Crush the Scholar's Mate like Hikaru - Chess

The Scholar's Mate has to be the most annoying checkmate for beginner chess players to lose to. Even after analysing your games, learning from your mistakes, it can still be difficult to play against this opener.
This video will teach you how Hikaru Nakamura counters this tricky opening.
Learn how magnus plays against the Scholar's Mate here.
• Crush the Scholar's Ma...
Want Chess Puzzles from your own games? Check out my website
chessblueprints.com
Blog post outlining this opening
chessblueprints.com/blog/crus...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:17 Scholars Mate Basics
1:30 Hikaru's f5 variation
4:58 Hikaru vs Firouzja
12:11 Outro
#chess #hikaru #hikarunakamura #chessopenings

[@ChessBlueprints]

I've created a website with educational puzzles for you to try! chessblueprints.com Let me know what you think :)

[@GRSG_tech]

my man, this wont work, cause the vid in youtube like this vid

[@ChessBlueprints]

@@GRSG_tech Fair point. This variation does seem pretty rare hey.

[@aaronsworld2338]

Furzjia forgot who he was playing💀💀

[@ChessBlueprints]

He lost twice to the same variation ahaha.

[@eexpl0reebs]

Furzjsuckceija actually

[@nizomiddinabdukarimov1209]

According to ratings, Firouzja is the No1 chess player on blitz at the moment

[@ChessBlueprints]

@@nizomiddinabdukarimov1209 yeah he's awesome :) Makes Hikaru's wins more impressive

[@toxicity3715]

i dont play e5 but this is just a very well structured and well made video! keep it up! and i would love a video on how to play against the smith mora gambit as a sicilian player :)

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thank you :) I love the smith morra myself ahaha, it's a nightmare to play against as black. Thanks for the idea

[@williampapadopoulos8145]

From what I have seen of Hikaru’s play, he has a very defensive offense, and is very well guarded and supported as he develops his pieces! My number one rule is to never waste a tempe….that is, never to move a piece SO far forward that your opponent can simply attack it and drive me backwards…developing THEIR tempe while I lose mine. UNLESS THERE IS A VERY GOOD POSITIONAL REASON FOR THE MOVE!

[@ChessBlueprints]

Sounds like a great strategy. Keep it up :)

[@natureatitsbestplace]

One of the best analysis I have ever seen in recent times. Keep it up with different kinds of openings. You are really really awesome 💯💯😎💯💯. I appreciate that 🙏😊!!!❤❤❤❤

[@ChessBlueprints]

Wow I really appreciate it. Thanks ❤️

[@BotsRoyaleElo]

Noice😂 Luv ur vids and subbed

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thank you :D

[@akaldargaming9800]

Nice video,you just gained a new subscriber.

[@ChessBlueprints]

thanks for subbing :)

[@Anthony-ev8pr]

great video thanks

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@ricardocazotti]

Very good move by move explanation. Tks

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks :)

[@davidbasden5700]

Nice one - thx! Also liked your Blackmar-Diemer short - must remember it! New subscriber here. :)

[@ChessBlueprints]

Glad you're enjoying the content. Thanks for the sub :)

[@1shxxn]

Thanks for the line!

[@ChessBlueprints]

No problem :)

[@WorldChessComunity-gh3xx]

Stunning game bro, Like it, Thank You

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks :)

[@JustRightPinedo]

seems like Hikaru won partially by gaining great tempo here then just playing solid, simple moves from there to lean on the advantage

[@ChessBlueprints]

It looks so simple when someone like Hikaru does it hey. Wish it was that easy to implement though

[@amerstain]

Just a really video. Thanks

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks for the comment :)

[@adhinegoro7144]

the pawn chains is so beautiful

[@ChessBlueprints]

so satisfying hey

[@OddworldAuto]

What happens if some one tries to scholars mate you but you start with the caro kann opening ?

[@tommitoivonen3624]

With 1. e4 c6 2. Qh5 you can immediately gain a tempo on the queen by 2. ... Nf6 (or g6) and the scholar's mate is out the window.

[@ChessBlueprints]

Exactly what Tommi said :) Also you can play e6 to block the bishops view of f7

[@teefaka]

Nice video..i subscribed

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks for the sub!

[@PauliePizza]

I fell for the scholar's mate back when I started chess 2 months ago so long ago. 😂. I also fell for when the queen is brought back to f3. I don't know why people try this. If it doesn't work they spend alot of time moving their queen. I do the horse like you said and then i bring my queen to e7 but I am very weary of putting my queen In front of my king, because I got in some major trouble that way. Thanks for the video. You have a clear calm way of teaching that is good. I subscribed!!

[@ChessBlueprints]

Yeah we've all fallen for it at least once I think ahaha. Thanks for the sub :)

[@kumarprateek238]

Nice explanation

[@ChessBlueprints]

thanks for the comment :)

[@KrisKasprzak]

Thanks for sharing

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks for watching!

[@shaguftadarve8330]

Btw Thank you! It'll hlp me in future for sure!

[@ChessBlueprints]

No problem thanks for the comment :)

[@GRSG_tech]

nice vid BTW

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks again :D

[@rekhavmenon1507]

Hi bro I'm a beginner and got embarassed by the Scholar's Mate first round in my chess tournament. I'm just wondering at 0:50 can we play Knight H6? Read this somewhere and I haven't seen anyone mention it. Seems like the best move to throw off your opponent if they go by a trained method. Please clarify if there is any pros or cons to this move or if this is just a blunder

[@ChessBlueprints]

missing checkmate happens to the best of us don't worry! Good on you for joining tournaments. Knight h6 is okay. It's a bit awkward because it's on the edge of the board (so controls less squares) and it can be a target for white's dark square bishop. Definitely not a blunder, but pretty risky and the benefits aren't great.

[@rekhavmenon1507]

@@ChessBlueprints thanks. I'm gonna watch your Caro-Kann setup videos and maybe try to improve and play chess as a hobby, because I might not play in a tournament for another year

[@ChessBlueprints]

@@rekhavmenon1507 yeah that's fair. Let me know how it goes :)

[@rekhavmenon1507]

@@ChessBlueprints btw can you do a video on calculating during chess games? All the videos I found were either too fast paced or stretched out

[@ChessBlueprints]

@@rekhavmenon1507 Sure I'll add it to the list of videos to do. Thanks for the suggestions :)

[@shauryagupta7506]

11:15 knight e6 was not played by white. Is there anything bad about it??

[@ChessBlueprints]

yeah the bishop on c8 defends that square. Hard to spot

[@petersmoba9931]

perfect , good explain SUB from Peter

[@ChessBlueprints]

Thanks Peter :)

[@GRSG_tech]

nice vid

[@ChessBlueprints]

thank you :)

[@64MilestotheGallon]

How do you defend against exf5 once they develop their knight to e2? Seems like Nd4 no longer works

[@64MilestotheGallon]

Oh I see, black has d5 in response

[@ChessBlueprints]

Yep nice spot.

[@LympyDownunder]

I guess I am bad at chess, but you saying that black has significant advantages whilst all their pieces except one are on the back rank makes no sense, to me they have pawn space that has created a lot of weaknesses and they seem in trouble if white is aggressive ... can you please elaborate more

[@ChessBlueprints]

ahaha that feeling of being bad at chess never goes away don't worry. I'm going off memory here, but the advantage comes from black being up a pawn, having more space with his pawns, having the bishop pair, and white's knights being passive. You're right that black would be in trouble if white was able to capitalize on the weaknesses but it was too difficult for the pieces to infiltrate. Also black's pieces on the back rank don't matter as much because rooks and bishops on long range pieces. These are all abstract advantages, but you can see how they all combine to eventually trap white's knight at the end. Hope that helps, are you Australian too btw?

[@mehdizeynalov1062]

The knight could jump back to c3 and pond would not be able to take that right?

[@ChessBlueprints]

Yeah you're right. It's not as simple as it looks. If the knight jumps back, the pawn is pinned, but hikaru can push e3, kicking the rook off the file. If the rook tries to stay on the file with Rd3, Ba6 then traps the rook

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

At the end 11:45 cant Firouzja retreat his knight back to C3 because if Hiraku takes Firouzja wins a rook? - in other words the doubled rooks are pinning the pawn that is supposedly trapping the knight.

[@maddyv5948]

He doesn't have to take that knight though, he can just trap the queen by bishop to e6 if the knight retreats

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

@@maddyv5948 Queen to B5 - its vacated and guarded by the knight if the knight retreats.

[@maddyv5948]

@@jeffreylebowski4927 right! I didn't even see that. Then how about pawn to e3, attacking the rook instead of queen? If thr the rook moves from away from the d file, we can safely capture the knight, otherwise if the rook goes to d3, we push the c pawn, attacking both queen and rook.

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

@@maddyv5948 Yeah I guess that would suck for white... x) at least as far as I can tell. i dont see a way out of it, well spotted.

[@ChessBlueprints]

Yeah nice analysis both of you. I missed the queen being trapped as well tbh

[@GregTurismo]

Omg I clicked a random chess video and it’s a retired Rocket League pro?! That’s amazing!

[@ChessBlueprints]

Ahaha you'd think chess and RL have nothing in common but here we are. Nice to see you :)

[@GregTurismo]

It really is you! I had my doubts, but after all this time it's great to see you Jake! @@ChessBlueprints

[@mikaelolofsson258]

Kd4 as he say, but what happen if Qe4? At 2:47

[@ChessBlueprints]

Yeah that does take away our d5 idea. Best move is d6. A calm move defending the e5 pawn and preparing Bxf5 attacking the queen

[@jchesswithconstantine]

Hikaru’s move is indeed objectively the strongest. I have a video on this myself 😊

[@ChessBlueprints]

yeah it's fun how all the theory works out

[@Zeitparadoxon]

My thought Firouzja resigned due bishop on c6 would (almost) trap the queen.

[@ChessBlueprints]

Yeah even without the knight being trapped the position has heaps of potential tactics hey

[@Qtrainer]

Wouldn't it be e4..e5, d3?! Q to h5 seems a little bold. : )

[@ChessBlueprints]

nothing wrong with playing d3 for sure. If you're a solid player that's a great choice! Qh5 is certainly bold but if black isn't careful can get you a quick win :)

[@WaterBlitz]

That was an excellent game analysis of rocket league

[@ChessBlueprints]

Good to see you WaterBlitz ahaha

[@MyLatinLife]

So lame to resign that early

[@ChessBlueprints]

Happens at every ELO ahaha

[@manjusabu4819]

2:54 what if white queen to e5

[@ChessBlueprints]

You play the same moves except when the bishop recaptures the pawn, it is now with tempo as you attack the queen as well :)

[@Aman__Verma397]

You know you are done when you play scholar's mate against grandmaster like hikaru💀

[@ChessBlueprints]

Ahaha he tried it twice!

[@Aman__Verma397]

@@ChessBlueprints bro has balls of steel

[@Banana-ee9qg]

My respect for this guy : 🗿

[@ChessBlueprints]

🗿

[@meanyhunter5958]

Pov: moving your ke7

[@ChessBlueprints]

Hikaru can be crazy 😬

[@Foxy-uf4iy]

Queen f7 then f1 hikari loose

[@user-tr2li3vu6u]

Statistics show that

[@ChessBlueprints]

yeah you can't blame beginners for going for it ahaha

[@MyOneFiftiethOfADollar]

Sure hope you have another source of income. Dropping Hikaru's name and refuting the Scholar's mate will produce less income than a fast food job.

[@ChessBlueprints]

I'm doing okay thanks :)

[@adarshjadhav3238]

What is he goes for queen d5 you are gone

[@ChessBlueprints]

You can go Qe7 or Qf6 and you're doing great :)