It’s the day of the tournament, and one of the participants is a genius player who has been taught since the age of three by his father, and homeschooled with Chess as a subject. He is confident, and begins the first match, but, to his dismay, the opponent has checkmated him within the first four moves. This sheltered Chess player has fallen victim to one of the most deadly cheap strategies, Scholar's Mate, and it cost him the tournament. However, if he had learned how to counter it, he would have at least have a chance.
To counter Scholar's Mate, one must first understand Scholar's Mate, and how it works. There are a few ways Scholar's Mate can be done, but the most commonly found is when White moves its King’s pawn forward, followed by, in …show more content…
The central idea of this is waiting until after the Queen is moved to act, as it leaves the Queen vulnerable. For example, using the initial strategy, if the Queen is moved before the bishop, then the Knight should be moved then, and not when the King’s pawn is first move, so as to directly threaten the attacker’s Queen. However, if the Bishop is moved first, the strategy will not be as effective, so another strategy should be used instead. Although most, if not all, of these strategies can be worked into personal strategies, a strategy specifically tailored to stopping Scholar's Mate would be to move the Kingside Knight to H6, and it will reinforce the Kingside Bishop’s Pawn, so that when it is attacked, the Knight can capture the first piece to attack, and then the King can capture the second. This strategy is not ideal for the rest of the game, though, as it exposes the King and prevents castling.
In conclusion, countering Scholar's Mate is integral to chess, and the ways of doing so can be worked into personal strategies, and take a variety of forms, some better than others. Learning how to counter Scholar's Mate in a way that works with the player’s strategy will lead to the winning of many games, but trying to use one that goes against one’s strategy will cost more than a few
To counter Scholar's Mate, one must first understand Scholar's Mate, and how it works. There are a few ways Scholar's Mate can be done, but the most commonly found is when White moves its King’s pawn forward, followed by, in …show more content…
The central idea of this is waiting until after the Queen is moved to act, as it leaves the Queen vulnerable. For example, using the initial strategy, if the Queen is moved before the bishop, then the Knight should be moved then, and not when the King’s pawn is first move, so as to directly threaten the attacker’s Queen. However, if the Bishop is moved first, the strategy will not be as effective, so another strategy should be used instead. Although most, if not all, of these strategies can be worked into personal strategies, a strategy specifically tailored to stopping Scholar's Mate would be to move the Kingside Knight to H6, and it will reinforce the Kingside Bishop’s Pawn, so that when it is attacked, the Knight can capture the first piece to attack, and then the King can capture the second. This strategy is not ideal for the rest of the game, though, as it exposes the King and prevents castling.
In conclusion, countering Scholar's Mate is integral to chess, and the ways of doing so can be worked into personal strategies, and take a variety of forms, some better than others. Learning how to counter Scholar's Mate in a way that works with the player’s strategy will lead to the winning of many games, but trying to use one that goes against one’s strategy will cost more than a few