One of the most unsuspecting checkmates you can execute on your opponent is the Fool’s mate. It is known as the easiest check mate and can occur very early in the game. The beauty of the Fool’s mate is that it is hardly noticeable, especially with novices.

In the diagram, this type of check mate is triggered by a false and weak move by your opponent using a white piece. When starting out a game it is wise to keep a keen eye on pieces around the king and ensure valuable pieces are guarded.  The diagram above shows a possible scenario of this kind of checkmate.

The diagram above shows a follow up of the previous diagram that leads to a Fool’s checkmate. The black piece shown by e5 is a move in response to f3. The black piece is better placed on the board and it enjoys a significant amount of influence. In this position the black piece opens up room for two more pieces from the black side. The black squared bishop and the queen can move forward to take advantage of the open areas on the white sides.

The move to f3 by the white piece exposes the white king and leaves it in a much vulnerable position from attacks by the advancing black squares bishop and the queen. Any move by either of the black pieces to h4 makes the white king even weaker.

To avoid such mistakes in the opening, carefully consider your first move before playing. This can be done by constantly having practice sessions to improve your opening tactics. Learn moves that will easily attack your opponent’s pieces without leaving your game vulnerable for a fool’s mate.

In this follow up to the previous move, the white piece moves 2.g4 make it very easy for the opponent to attack easily. This is not a wise move on from the white side as it leaves many white pieces vulnerable. A move towards this direction leaves valuable pieces open for attack.

At this point a move from the black side to the white position is a clear checkmate. This is one of the easiest moves to execute and can be used to weaken the opponent by capitalizing on a simple move in the wrong direction.

In this diagram the black piece moves towards the white position at 2Qh4. This restricts the movement of the white piece to any direction. Any move done by the white piece is fruitless; advancing towards any direction exposes the valuable pieces such as the queen and king. It is also impossible to protect these valuable pieces from further attacks. Moving the black piece by two positions towards the white side is as simple as calling for a checkmate.

This simple blunder from the white pieces can be avoided by scheming your opening so as to have as much influence on the center of the board in your first move. Another tactic to employ is to ensure that all your valuable pieces are always guarded.

If you liked this short tutorial on Foul's Mate, then you will certainly love the Humor in Chess blog post that I wrote recently.