How to Win a Chess Game in 3 Moves

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash

In a previous post, I showed you how to win a chess game in four moves. In this one, we will learn how to win a chess game in three moves. If winning a game in four moves is called the Scholar's Mate, winning a game in three moves is called the Fool's Mate. And it's called a Fool's Mate because only a fool would actually fall for it. That is, whoever loses to the Fool's Mate lost to it because they allowed them to do so. Let me show you what I mean by that:

You see what I mean? It was as if they were inviting you to checkmate them right away. Of course, no one would be foolish enough to make those moves in the beginning, not even an innocent newbie. But this would probably happen if somebody is intentionally wanting to lose for some reason. This is why it is often said that we shouldn't try to move the f-pawn at all costs unless necessary. It is one of the key defenders of your king's position and if you lose that pawn in the early game especially then it will be much harder to defend as your king will be open to attacks from different angles.

Try to protect the f-pawn from sneaky attacks like this. Even the Scholar's Mate attacks this weakest point in your position. So, that's why we always try to tuck our king away safely in the corner by castling, as quickly as possible. Although there are positions and cases in which the king is much safer left in the center than being castled on either side. But that is for another post.