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
First-move advantage in chess Black today is to seek unbalanced, positions with active , rather than merely trying to . Modern writers also argue that Black has certain countervailing advantages. The consensus that White should try to win can be a psychological burden for the white player, who sometimes loses by trying too hard to win. Some symmetrical openings (i.e. those where Black's moves copy White's) can lead to situations where moving first is a detriment, for either psychological or objective reasons. Chess is not a solved game, and it is considered unlikely that the game will be solved in the foreseeable future. In