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

Parham Attack rd bd qd kd bd nd rd pd pd pd pd pd pd pd nd pd ql bl pl pl pl pl pl pl pl pl rl nl bl kl nl rl Parham Attack 3. Bc4 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 . 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3 4 5 6 Bc4g6 Qf3Nf6 Ne2Bg7 Nbc3d6 =/+ Bc4g6 Qf3Nf6 Qb3Nd4 =/+ ...Qe7 Nf3Nf6 Qh4d6 d3h6 = ...Nh6 d3g6 Qf3 +/= Scholar's mate ...Nf6?? Qxf7#! References Parham Attack Scholars Mate Illustrated Chess for Children. 1960. Harvey Kidder. Publisher, Doubleday 0-385-05764-4. External links Woody Harrelson vs Garry Kasparov at chessgames.com