How To PUNISH Early Queen Attacks & Scholar's Mate

Learn 3 Ways To Improve Your Chess Results
FREE Masterclass ► chess-teacher.com/masterclass
Take Your Chess Skills To The Next Level With High-Quality Courses
Learn here ► online.chess-teacher.com/
💰💲 Join the RCA Affiliate Program, promote our courses, and get 50% commission - chess-teacher.com/partnership/
♛ Find the games from this lesson in this blog post - chess-teacher.com/punish-earl...
🔹 Brutally PUNISH Scholar's Mate & Early Queen Attacks - • Brutally PUNISH Schola...
In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov teaches you how to brutally punish early queen attacks and Scholar's Mate ideas. It is surprising that millions of chess players still try to fool their opponents with the Scholar's checkmate, but it's time to punish them.
You will learn how to deal with different kinds of early queen attacks and Scholar's Mate. For example, the most direct way where White plays 2.Qh5, then 3.Bc4 aiming for the Qxf7 checkmate, and the other approach (by advanced players) where White plays 2.Bc4 first and then bring our their queen.
It is important for you to know not just how to stop such attacks, but be merciless and brutally punish your opponents for trying such lame tricks against you. You will learn some aggressive ideas and counter-attacking moves that forces your opponent's queen to retreat, or trap their queen, or even checkmate their king!
▬▬▬▬▬▬
► Chapters
00:00 Brutally Punish Early Queen Attacks & Scholar's Mate
01:13 1) If White plays 2.Qh5 and then 3.Bc4
02:39 If White continues playing aggressively for Mate
04:58 If White plays Qb3, targeting f7
07:22 2) If White plays 2.Bc4 and then 3.Qf3
08:45 Counterattacking in the center
10:05 Can you find the winning move for Black?
10:26 If White plays d3 with the idea of Bg5
12:30 White's last attempt in Scholar's Mate
📗 Free chess courses - chess-teacher.com/rca-freebies/
#IgorNation #Checkmate #ChessTricks #ChessTraps #QueenTrap

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

💡 Register to GM Igor Smirnov's FREE Masterclass "The Best Way to Improve at Chess INSTANTLY" - chess-teacher.com/masterclass 💲 Join the RCA Affiliate Program, promote our courses, and get 50% commission - chess-teacher.com/partnership/

[@salkinfamilychiropractic3142]

How can you do this when you play as black and use the Sicilian opening?

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

@@salkinfamilychiropractic3142 It's actually even easier for Black in the Sicilian defense. You may play e6 and White can't attack you anymore.

[@knowledgeuntamed9177]

​@salkinfamilychiropractic3142 my son is 13 and almost just won State in his 1st year. Really wanna get him a trainer.

[@mustray8910]

Qqqqqqqq

[@elasticharmony]

good stuf I get this often

[@albertsinuraya]

Nh5 and the queen is trapped. Beautiful.

[@binnybrieger]

Nice

[@kmmian786]

Why trap when you could finish the game in 2 moves

[@jarkkopesonen]

@@kmmian786 No, you can't. There's no forced checkmate.

[@dezkyle7630]

Yes you can. Bishop G4 check King forced to C2 Knight e1 Mate

[@jukixfi]

@@dezkyle7630 what about pawn f3, then King can stay without moving

[@Beery1962]

10:16 Puzzle of the day - Knight to H5. Queen is trapped.

[@antonzagrafov741]

Bishop to G4

[@AcVinicious]

@@antonzagrafov741 probably not since it can be blocked by a pawn and knight right ?

[@alexhirobrian]

​@@AcViniciouswhat?

[@AcVinicious]

@@alexhirobrian ?

[@goldcoastj]

I really enjoyed this video. Let's have more "merciless and brutally punish" videos.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

😎

[@HoodRatBass]

For real the one about punishing the knight pins was great too. Super helpful and really explains the concepts better than other chess creators

[@morgansegui9845]

Thank you, it changed the way I welcome early queen. I am now hoping for it. So good. You transformed the stress into joy. I repeated the moves for 2 hours on my chessboard to get the principles anchored in my brain. Thanks again!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

That's a solid preparation! 💪 I wouldn't dare to play Qh5 against you now :)

[@tpmunyon]

Dude, you are a tremendous teacher. So impressive.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Thanks!

[@godlynew8895]

My friend has been doing the queen start for awhile, and I killed off his queen in less than 5 moves every time before seeing this video, this makes me happy knowing I did something right before someone else had to make a video about it

[@gtheodos]

Thank you for posting these videos. Your explanations are clear and really helpful.

[@RamKumar-gy9nb]

Brilliant and fantastic video. Way back 25 years ago when we didnt have youtube, it was so annoying to find a solution to this Scholar's mate and I myself have had felt terrible after losing. People with little or less skills beat you with this humiliation. I know many chess players now still use it as an opening and then build up their positions but they are experienced and know to handle it. But you have made a very nice video on this. Great work and I can understand the preparation required for making a video (editing, etc.). So thank you again and God bless you.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Thank you so much for your nice words!

[@transager7]

@@GMIgorSmirnov Dear Igor, on 09:10 - what if White takes with the bishop, not with the pawn? what is the main continuation line?

[@alfredocruz123426]

@@transager7 they can’t take with the bishop cause they would be down in material if they did.

[@BEN-ys6gu]

@@alfredocruz123426 can you explain why?

[@kevinwilson5711]

Your counter attack movements are great. I examine the spots on response and am impressed. Good job 👍

[@lukehudson9684]

This is amazing. Drilling these lines so I can punish this at low level bullet - it's super common and, even if I can force them back into "even" positions, I end up getting into trouble with some of the other tricks and losing on time. Thank you!!!

[@italixgaming915]

There are four ideas in this position: 1) Nxf2+ : forks the King and the Rook ad Black is clearly winning but this is not the best move. 2) Bxf2 : here we attack the Queen while preparing Bg4+, removing the f3 move. The problem is that White can play Qxg7 and still has Qh6 in case of Rg8 and Nf3 (sacrificing the knight) in case of Bg4+ so this attack wins material but is not deadly. 3) Bg4+ with the idea of Ne1# if Kc2 and Bf2 (or Bxf2) if White blocks, trapping the Queen. 4) Nh5 : attacks the Queen and despite having 13 possible moves, the Queen is also trapped. So Bg4+ and Nh5 are two ways to destroy White.

[@AntoineDennison]

At 10:21, I would play knight f6 to h5. The Queen has nowhere to go.

[@99ZULU]

Black: Bishop g4 check White: Can't move king to c2 because of mate in 1 with knight e1, so either pawn f3, knight f3, or knight e2 to block. If they block with queen or take g4 bishop then you just capture their queen. Black: If white just blocks then bishop f2 traps the queen and you win it on the next move.

[@italixgaming915]

Or Nh5 directly traps the Queen. You can play any of these moves, it leads to the same result.

[@99ZULU]

@@italixgaming915 True, I do like my line more just for the potential that they blunder mate in 1. But Nh5 is a clean choice, curious how the engine evaluates those options.

[@whitmoreparkcommunitychurc4944]

@@99ZULU KEEPING IN mind that the Lesson is on trapping the QUEEN... not so much a mate in three

[@franktaggart-qs5ff]

Thank you for the explanation of beat peopleIt’s so nice to hear someone explain things and move to another very good you’re very good teacher thank you

[@gregoryrobertson]

Very well explained, thanks & subscribed 👍

[@mshparber]

Excellent! Thanks!!!

[@julitoireneojr9587]

Thanks!

[@davidlamarca899]

Great video💪👏

[@Romeoshadez]

Wow I learned so many small tricks watching this . Ty !

[@user-gq8ec8fg7p]

I watched this video a few days ago and I was able to successfully trap the queen after my opponent started with the scholar's checkmate and moved their Queen to B3 in line with the Biship at C4. It felt great to counter this attack and trap the queen in the middle of the board. Thank you so much for all of your videos and showing different variations of these attacks.

[@Walkman0007]

Good stuff, thanks dude

[@bhushannikode5086]

Thank you🙏🙏❤

[@mlliarm]

This is brutal indeed. I love it ! Спасибо )

[@asmziauddinahmed1764]

Excellent video. I faced many times with early queen attacks and made me suffer, but now I welcome them to do it again!

[@wellingtonoliveira3844]

Thank you master

[@emwu86]

Man... I discovered your channel few days ago and I love it!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

I'm happy that you enjoyed it

[@JairamwithU]

I was waiting for this video. Thanks

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

🙏

[@jthefarmer298]

Nice GM. Thank you for the content

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

I'm glad it was helpful!

[@marekblahovec1357]

Oh my gosh this video is mega! I love this, thank you!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

😊

[@interestedbystander196]

New subscriber here. Thanks so much for putting out these videos. Appreciate the effort. Perhaps now I can learn some strategies to win against my kids - they both crush me regularly.

[@eggplant9479]

amazing. i learned a lot

[@aminshafiee7066]

Thanks teacher

[@VanlifewithAlan]

Absolutely brilliant!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Thank you!

[@dazknight9326]

Good advice. I am playing my electronic femuey academy e chess set level 11 and only beat twice loll. It loves to attack the corners on your rook. I hate that... trying to discover defenses. I just ordered the square off kingdom set to hopefully advance some play. My problem is, I am defensive and must be more aggressive with developing more checks with this thing, a lot of times I can have it on the run, but still tricked and lose.

[@cemalkacar7099]

Thats really enjoyable man l like your videos

[@roeydaz]

I am trying to get back into chess after starting long before there was even Internet! Books were the way to go. I took an initial hammering when someone tried the scholars mate on me but with a bit of patience and perseverance prevailed. Especially at the lower levels just trying to play a game of chess with a queen generally will end in grief!

[@truthcrackers]

great video!

[@khinkyawhtwe8603]

Brilliant traps. Thanks

[@stefanm2864]

Thank you! I often had been confused by that early queen h5 and lost. Hope this won´t happend to me now any further.

[@pr0m3teus79]

Damn thank you for this video

[@martybelekas1783]

This is sick!

[@denzel_thegreat1681]

I lost some games because of this as i am a new player and didn't notice when the queen goes back they can do it again, I am happy I got this video by accident. I have like and subscribe as I hope to get more tips

[@juliomendez5361]

Knight h5 best move to trap queen and look to consolidate C2 (king’s only way out) for checkmate

[@carminerussano2961]

Great 👍

[@fotisgeorgoulis7760]

thanks for yoy helped win omar

[@ingogoldbeck2886]

The solution for most common pattern is at 9:03 😊 great idea!

[@ront9459]

What is the highest level at which the scholars mate has been successfully executed (q f7 supported by b c4)? It would require some careful masking and hoping your opponent falls asleep. However I pulled it off against a player better than myself, requiring 15 moves. While it would be very rare at the grandmaster level, even they have been known to fall asleep. Of course the point of this video is that setting up the scholars mate can make the queen vulnerable to a well crafted counterattack.

[@benitoroylabastida8403]

As a 1k ELO player (I started playing chess again after 2 years), I absolutely love it when opponents take out the queen early. I just get crafty (it gets boring eventually) and let them take my e5 pawn.

[@danieltoth722]

10:22 best step ig knight g4 cause the only way to take it down then is queen g4, but then you can check with knight f2 while also attacking the queen.

[@berndrickert5510]

Thanks, good move. Now pawn g7 is protected and if white doesn't move pawn f3, bd6 finishes the job.

[@suryamitrasen8126]

❤️😍👏 lovely variation

[@starwarscommunism]

At 06:59. Why QC4 instead of QxB4?

[@grandpafrogie]

Next thing Knight C2 and ur Queen is dead because fork with King

[@georgie4024]

Amazing video 🔥🔥🔥

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Thanks 🔥

[@scotblust5390]

Thank you! I needed this. The scholar's checkmate is definitely annoying and now I have the tools to make them pay!!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

That sweet revenge is coming

[@jc-pe6ue]

Amazing

[@Chunda8]

GM Smirnov you had me at "We're gonna be brutal today." I am in the right place, subbed.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

😎

[@vickies8259]

I wish I would have seen this a few weeks ago!!

[@RealTipProductions]

because of your videos on the wayward queen, my win rate playing black is 60%+, that's how often people play it in low elo games. thank you so much!

[@markomarkovic7029]

Dobar si👍

[@grandpafrogie]

I knew how to deal with normal respond, but IDK this one yet. Nice one, giving punishment for trying to bully with newbie trick. Even some of 1200s rating still trying to do this one... Amazing.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

😎

[@prithwishguha309]

Wow you're a like a rockstar in chess, this video was by far the best destruction of scholar's mate

[@ravivarma239]

So best than previous one. 👍🙏🏻

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

I'm glad you liked it!

[@mr1gonzalez228]

I usually start with my knights’ pawns to defend against an early Scholar’s but this is scary. Very scary. Thank you for this

[@stephenmathenge9723]

😂ur a real joker anyway I have tried many time to play pawn then knight bt I always end up punished

[@mr1gonzalez228]

@@stephenmathenge9723 ??? I play Larsen-Nim like 50% of my games

[@lasaventurasdevitoelgatoma3405]

the best channel for beginners

[@Lucas-ym2nr]

I always welcome the wayward queen with a kiddie countergambit followed by Be5. I love the queen hunt

[@thomasgrabowski2202]

Knight to D4....such a good play :P !

[@septiilham8715]

loove how you explain

[@mikekeenan8450]

Solution to puzzle: ... Bxf2. If White plays Qxg7, Black plays Rg8, and after Qh6 Rg6 White's queen has run out of moves.

[@SlinkyOCE]

Just started playing chess and I've started on fundamentals and trying to develop. With low elo I keep getting smoked by aggressive queens even though I faired okay against higher elo friends. I will be using this information to punish my opponents! THANK YOU!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

You're always welcome, best of luck in your games!

[@ScottyDog345]

Castle lush Bishop back with pawns trap bishop

[@shripadkulkarni1416]

I think the move you are asking at 10:33 should be bishop from c8 gives a check to the king and he moves to the one position he as to counter attack black knight at d3 at the same time I black knight should be at h5 to launch a counter attack to the queen please let me know if this works I really felt sad after lots of practice my opponent beat me twice with the same stratergy

[@TheRomanianWolf]

At 10:33 there is no check with the bishop.

[@rankerhanshaw]

Nice video

[@elektron2kim666]

It's one of those "tricks" or fundamentals to remember and watch out for. There are others like pins, forks and blocks.

[@Chess-Online]

10:10 Bishop to f2, capturing the white pawn. White is forced to defend the queen, it does not matter where the white queen goes. Then Bishop to g4, checking the white king. The white king is forced to move to c2 square. Then Knight to e1, checkmating the White King.

[@randomguy19954]

Nice

[@user-hx5bs3up2r]

This is on a different subject. There’s a painting called “Checkmate” in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Would you do a video on the position on the board?

[@TheRobTV]

when starting out. Wayword queen is a great wy to get back from 100 to 200 ELO. but after that just ply normal chess.

[@stefanfinzel3637]

play smooth with .. Nh5 to get whites Q, or more aggressive .. Bg4+ also threatens loss of whites Q. with Bf2

[@italixgaming915]

Bg4+ is also a mate threat: if the King moves, Ne1#. But well, as you said, both moves win on the spot.

[@shaunpatrickbanares2205]

bishop to g4, king to c2, and knight to e1 is mate, so to avoid mate, the knight or pawn is forced to block the bishop, after that, you can go knight to f2 and there is nothing stopping you from eating the rook, if he takes the bishop with the queen, you can eat the queen with your knight and there is nothing stopping you from eating the rook, if he moves the king then you can still take the pawn on f2 winning the rook next move, if he goes knight to h1 to free up space for the rook while defending the pawn on f2, then just take on f2 with one of your knights, and when he takes back you can take with your other knight and its a fork still, if he blocks with queen then it's just a queen for a bishop, bg4 or nh5 is winning, since nh5 completely traps the queen and you win the queen next move.

[@cassidy99ful]

1:29. When they bring their bishop out to c4 would moving your knight out to h6 also be a good move?

[@TheRomanianWolf]

No...after d4 he has the threat of Bxh6 with tempo.

[@cassidy99ful]

@@TheRomanianWolf Oh yes, I see. Thank you. 😊 .

[@ephy1973]

Dark bishop takes pawn and pushes away queen. Light bishop calls check and can no longer be blocked. So king moves to second row. Knight calls checkmate on e1

[@rehoboth_farm]

10:25 Bishop G4

[@wael-mentalhealth]

10:20 bishop g4

[@terrellbrown1997]

Recently got into spades heavy

[@alextting]

9:35 What happens if white plays Bb5+ instead of Bb3? How should black proceed? Thanks.

[@dmitrnol]

let's play a grassivly and counter-strike :) Your accent is very cool! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!

[@chasevankrey5061]

I saw that kh5 is the correct move in the comments but is bc4 a good move there or significantly worse. That was what I saw initially.

[@michaelkremer9120]

In the question position play Nh5 trapping the Q.

[@ianjohnson171]

I’m rated 500 (I know, I suck) but the problem with early queen attacks at that level is most of them don’t go for the checkmate, they just fly the queen around and pick off my pieces as I chase it and yell at my phone lol if I see a queen come out early it’s almost a guaranteed loss.

[@raselju]

Thank you again for the amazing video. For the puzzle, I think it should be knight moves to H5. It will trap the queen and win the match eventually.

[@w.harrison7277]

Cool.

[@christianfrost8660]

As Black how do you feel in general about the Czech Pirc Defence?

[@natureessen]

good

[@moodygainz]

10:24 kh5

[@Meacci133]

You had me at "make them suffer"

[@icarusflying1814]

What rating in rapid do you think these videos apply to mostly? Or rather what’s the max rating you’d expect this advice to be useful for?

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

I was surprised that it's common even at 1400 level. Stronger players sometimes try to pull it off but then they are ready to get back to normall chess (i.e. move the queen back to f3 and continue their development). But now you know how to punish them all!

[@icarusflying1814]

@@GMIgorSmirnov interesting. I am between 1200 & 1400 and this stuff still works.

[@staffanbergstrom2265]

Beautiful...

[@odinmatanguihan5086]

lol, should've watched this something like this 2 weeks ago. Started playing online 2 weeks ago and that's exactly what they did to me. Learned how to punish them on my own, not nearly as aggressively brutal as yours, but they mess up and always end up queenless. Knight even got a triple fork between queen/king/rook. Got vengeance for those humiliating early games.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

💪👍

[@harrycop7944]

no queen?🥺

[@MMircea]

Every time someone tries a scholar's mate on me online, I simply ask in the chat: "Are you serious?"

[@frankbeerbaum5593]

Nh5!! A wonderful Queen-hunt finds it's end!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Exactly!

[@arfatchougulay6366]

After Black plays NG6 what is white plays c3???