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 the advantage. Black ultimately reached an endgame two pawns up, but White managed to hold a draw in 83 moves. Tal himself lost a famous game as White from a symmetrical position in Tal–Beliavsky, USSR Championship 1974. In chess tournaments and matches, the frequency with which each player receives white and black is an important consideration. In matches, the players' colors in the first game are determined by drawing lots, and alternated thereafter. In round robin tournaments with an odd number of players, each player receives an equal number of whites and blacks; with an even number of players, each