These Quick Chess Games aren’t just good for filling a web page or passing time …
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How it works:
- 1Play alone
- 2Play with AI
- 3Play in room
- 4Watch the rooms
- 5No Ads, Clean Play Room
Beginners can study the moves made – learn to spot opportunities as shown by the victors, and take valuable lessons from the mistakes made by the losers of these swift matches.
First, a swift mention:
It’s only right – credit where it’s due, and all that – these Quick Chess Games were found at eudesign.com, stuck in some lower-down section of their website.
Their version consisted of still images and used Descriptive Notation to log the moves made …
We’ve dusted things up a little, re-written the notation using the Algebraic system and used video capture software, plus Microsoft’s Chess Titans game, to re-create the actual games, which can be reached from this page.
Game #1 – Blackburne Shilling Mate –
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How it works:
- 1Play alone
- 2Play with AI
- 3Play in room
- 4Watch the rooms
- 5No Ads, Clean Play Room
This famous mate strategy is named after the Manchester (England) Chess player, Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841-1924), also nicknamed “Mr Black Death“.
The ‘Shilling’ bit refers to Blackburne’s habit of hustling in cafes, where he’d bet others a Shilling to play against him – he’d win by Checkmate in 7 Moves.
Game #2 – Fool’s Mate –
If you want to know the quickest of all routes to Checkmate, Fool’s Mate is it.
This strategy involves a player being ‘foolish’ enough to expose his King to direct attack by his opponent’s Queen … And it all takes place with just 2 Moves, for both players!
Thus, this is the quickest of all quick chess games.
Game #3 – Hippopotamus Mate –
Like the quirky form of a Hippopotamus, this Checkmate strategy was named because of it’s ‘irregular opening’ – but it’s a Quick Chess game that can seal Checkmate in 6 Moves.
Considered a bad opening strategy by some (see here); others point towards its merits as a great opening if you’re playing against an aggressive opponent, as the “Hippopotamus” is a counter-attacking strategy, for using when a swift defense is needed.
Game #4 – Legall’s Mate –
Named after French chess player, Legall de Kermeur, this strategy achieves Mate in 7 Moves.
It’s a cunning trap – elsewhere on this site, we mention that it can be strategically advantageous to sacrifice your Queen … such a ploy is demonstrated by Legall’s Mate.
Game #5 – Scholar’s Mate –
This quick chess game achieves Mate in 4 Moves.
Scholar’s Mate sees Black attempting to threaten White’s Queen, but totally missing the threat to Black’s King by White’s Queen, who is backed-up by her King’s Bishop to secure this “4 Move Checkmate”.
Game #6 – Sea Cadet Mate –
This game achieves Mate in 10 Moves.
Take a very close look at the pieces on the board at Checkmate, then compare it to Legall’s Mate (above) …
Almost identical, aren’t they! Both show White as the winner, combining both Knights plus a Bishop to seal victory.
Game #7 – Smothered Mate (King’s Pawn) –
Another quick chess game that achieves Mate in 4 Moves.
It’s one of two examples – on this page – of how the King can get into serious trouble if it isn’t given space to escape.
Both the King’s and Queen’s Pawn version are a victory for the counter-attacking Black.
Game #8 – Smothered Mate (Queen’s Pawn) –
And now for the Queen’s Pawn version – so named because the game begins with White advancing his d2 Pawn; the one directly infront of the Queen.
It achieves Mate in 8 Moves and again, Black is the victor due to White’s ‘smothering’ of his King – no escape = Checkmate.