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Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Qh5/2...Nc6/3. Bc4

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< Chess Opening Theory | 1. e4 | 1...e5 | 2. Qh5 | 2...Nc6
The latest reviewed version was checked on 13 October 2023. There is 1 pending change awaiting review.
Parham Attack
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black knightd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 white queen5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 white bishopd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 black kinge1 white kingf1 black kingg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p2Q/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K1NR b

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4

Parham Attack

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3. Bc4

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With this aggressive move, White now threatens checkmate called "Scholar's Mate" by taking the pawn on f7 with the queen. Black has some ways to adequately prevent this mate from happening. The two decent replies are 3...g6 and 3...Qe7. Kasparov chose Qe7 when he met this position in a game against the actor Woody Harrelson in a consultation game.

At the lower level many players may be tempted to play 3…Nf6?? attacking White’s queen. However, Black leaves f7 undefended, and White can play the move they were intending to play when 2. Qh5 was played: 4. Qxf7#!, known as the Scholar’s Mate.

Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6

3 4 5 6
Bc4
g6		 Qf3
Nf6		 Ne2
Bg7		 Nbc3
d6		 =/+
Bc4
g6		 Qf3
Nf6		 Qb3
Nd4		 =/+
...
Qe7		 Nf3
Nf6		 Qh4
d6		 d3
h6		 =
...
Nh6		 d3
g6		 Qf3
+/=
Scholar's mate ...
Nf6??		 Qxf7#!

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References

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Wikipedia has related information at Parham Attack  and Scholars Mate

  • Illustrated Chess for Children. 1960. Harvey Kidder. Publisher, Doubleday ISBN 0-385-05764-4.
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