Losing a Chess Game in Two Moves: The "Fool's Mate" Explained

If you've played any chess at all, you've no doubt heard of the "blitzkrieg" or "scholar's mate" - a sequence by which the white player can win the game in four moves (it's not a wise opening to play, by the way - all but the most novice players will easily counter it, putting the white player in a poor position).

But did you know that a game of chess can be won in only two moves? It's called the "fool's mate", and the black player checkmates the white king on the second move. It's so named because the white player has to make two very bad (read: foolish) moves to make the situation possible.

Nonetheless, you can lose a game of chess in two moves. Here's how it works.

For the first move, as the white player, move the pawn in front of your king-side bishop forward one square (not a great move). Your opponent then moves the pawn in front of his king forward two squares (a good opening move in most situations). Then, you turn bad to worse and advance the pawn in front of your king's knight forward two squares. Your opponent will conclude the game in short order by sliding his queen out four squares diagonally (through the opening created by the king's pawn), all the way to the side of the board.

Congratulations: you've been trapped. Your king, imprisoned by the queen on his left, the bishop on his right, and two pawns in front of him, has an open space only on the front-right side - in which he is still under attack by the black queen. None of your pieces can move so as to capture the queen or place themselves in a square along the queen's line of attack, so the white king is checkmated and you have lost your game in two moves.

The algebraic notation for this game is [1. f3 e5 2. g4 Qh4#]. There is also another version of this very short chess game: [1. f4 e5 2. g4 Qh4#], which is the same except that the white player moves his king's bishop's pawn forward two squares instead of one on the opening move.

So, if you feel like you're a chess wizard, and none of your friends can beat you, why not give yourself a more interesting challenge. See if you can successfully lose a game in two moves. Make these horrible opening blunders, and see if your friends are smart enough to take advantage of the situation. If they still can't win, I would suggest that you find some better competition.