Scholar’s Mate in Chess: How to Checkmate in 4 Moves

In chess, a scholar’s mate is a four-move checkmate in which you use your white-square bishop and queen in a mating attack targeting the opponent’s f-pawn (f2 if white; f7 if black). The f-pawn is considered among the weakest pieces on the chessboard because it is only defended by the king. By exploiting your opponent’s most vulnerable point early on, you can trap them in an early checkmate.

Here are the annotations for a basic scholar’s mate:

1. 1. e4 e5
2. 2. Bc4 Nc6
3. 3. Qh5 Nf6
4. 4. Qxf7#

A player can only pull off a successful scholar’s mate when playing white because the strategy requires the advantage of having the first move. Here’s how to perform the scholar’s mate:

1. 1. Start with your king’s pawn. Moving your e-pawn forward two spaces, annotated as 1.e4, is the most popular starting position for white—grandmaster and world champion Bobby Fischer called 1.e4 “best by test.” Opening with your king’s pawn allows you to move your white-square bishop and queen, which are both critical pieces for the scholar’s mate. Black has several responses to this move but will often move their e-pawn forward, resulting in an e5-pawn head-to-head with an e4-pawn (commonly called a “closed game”).
2. 2. Bring out your white-square bishop. Move your bishop to c4 (annotated as 2.Bc4). Since the scholar’s mate is a combined attack between your bishop and queen, developing your bishop immediately and targeting your opponent’s f-pawn is one half of the setup needed for the strategy. (Alternatively, you can put your queen into place first, annotated as 2.Qh5, but bringing her out on move two may alert your opponent to your intentions.) Black may respond with either their knight (2...Nc6) or their bishop (2...Bc5).
3. 3. Move your queen into position. Move your queen to h5 (annotated as 3.Qh5). Now, both your queen and bishop are targeting your opponent’s pawn on f7. If black is unfamiliar with the scholar’s mate, they may think your queen is vulnerable and bring their knight forward to threaten your queen (3...Nf6; a common blunder), not realizing that your queen can now take their f7-square pawn for checkmate on the next move.
4. 4. Take their f7 pawn for checkmate. When your queen takes your opponent’s weak f7 pawn (4.Qxf7), they are in checkmate—your queen is defended by your bishop, and their king is blocked by the rest of their chess pieces.

Once you’re familiar with the scholar’s mate, mounting a defense against it becomes easier. If you notice your opponent bringing out their white-square bishop and queen early on and see their attacking lines intersecting on your f-pawn, you can deploy three major tactics to prevent the early checkmate:

• Block the opponent’s queen with a g-pawn. Bringing your g-pawn forward is the strongest defense against the scholar’s mate because it threatens your opponent’s queen and forces them to move her away from the setup. Advancing your g-pawn also opens up your bishop to move via fianchetto, paving the way for castling on the kingside. This g-pawn deployment ultimately places your opponent in a worse position than when they started, passing you the advantage.
• Bring your queen diagonal one space. You can also block the scholar’s mate by introducing your queen. If you move her one space (e7 if you’re playing black, e2 if you’re playing white), she can simultaneously defend your f-pawn and e-pawn. However, this move isn’t quite as strong as blocking with your g-pawn since it develops your queen too early in the game and blocks your black-square bishop.
• Bring your queen diagonal two spaces. You can also block the scholar’s mate by moving your queen two spaces diagonally (f6 if you’re playing black, f3 if you’re playing white). This move offers the same defenses as moving her one space, since she’s protecting both the f- and e-pawns, but comes with similar drawbacks: developing your queen too early and blocking your kingside knight from moving.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Garry Kasparov, Daniel Negreanu, Stephen Curry, Serena Williams, and more.