Fool's mate Fool's mate In chess, Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the checkmate in the fewest possible number of moves from the start of the game. This can be achieved only by Black, who can deliver checkmate on move 2 with the queen. Fool's Mate received its name because it can only occur if White commits an extraordinary blunder. Even among rank beginners, the mate almost never occurs in practice. An example of Fool's Mate consists of the moves: resulting in the position shown. The pattern can have slight variations; Black could play ...e6 or ...e5, and White
Chess opening Chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening refers to the initial moves of a chess game. The term can refer to the initial moves by either side, White or Black, but an opening by Black may also be known as a defense. There are dozens of different openings, and hundreds of variants. "The Oxford Companion to Chess" lists 1,327 named openings and variants. These vary widely in character from to wild tactical play. In addition to referring to specific move sequences, the opening is the first phase of a chess game, the other phases being the middlegame and