← All lessonsUnit 3 · Chess opening principles
26. What Is the Scholar's Mate and How to Defend Against It
Recognises early mating traps and defends against them.
3 steps · 2 exercises
What's in this lesson?
Recognises early mating traps and defends against them.
- The Scholar's Mate is the best-known trap: the queen and bishop attack f7 together. f7 is a weak square protected only by the king.
- You are Black, and the queen eyes both e5 and f7. Stop the threat by protecting f7.
- Here Black played Nf6 thinking it attacked the queen, but forgot to protect f7. As White, punish it: mate in one.