Quite a Pathetic Opening

Hey guys, thanks in advance for reading this.

Does it ever tick any of you off when a player, who plays white plays 1. e4, you respond with a move such as 2. ... e5, c5 or c6, and they play either 2. Qf3 or Qh5? Or 2. Bc4 ... 3. Qf3 or Qh3? It's happened to me quite a bit. And I don't mean to be rude or anything of the sort, but doesn't it ruin the game for you? To verse an opponent who plans to simply try and get a cheap win? I'm not saying this because of sour grapes, I've never fallen victim of Scholar's Mate. (I see the opening way too often when I host 'Welcome to Chess.com' games.) But do any of you guys experience the disappointment of seeing your opponent use this?

Thanks again,

Vincent

I have used 2. Qh5 quite a few times and not for a "cheap" victory. I use it to keep myself in familiar territory as well as hopefully surprising the opponent. The opening also places pressure on black right away as they need to defend themselves on move 2. While not the best opening in the world its also fun to play.

I see, sorry if I offended you in any way. This was directed to those who are, well I don't whether obsessed would be the right word, about Scholar's Mate.

Thanks again,

Vincent

Familiar territory? I'd rather get familiar with something else.

The truth is, at lower levels you can possibly get away with it. But as your opposition gets stronger, you will begin finding yourself lagging in developement, and it becomes harder and harder to recover.

At some stage you have to give it up.

Thanks!

Thanks.

2. Bc4, the bishop opening is hardly unsound, it might lack the depth of some more popular openings, such as the Ruy, but to call it a cheapo is just ignorant.

Sorry if you take offense to that, but I actually didn't mean it wasn't sound or anything, it's cheap when followed by Qf3 or Qh5.

I agree with Tricklev here, I've just played this in a tourney here and one player decribed it as 'dangerous' because he wasn't familiar with it. So with the early opening of the queen you had better be prepare for it, if not then you don't understand the game of chess  really, that just my 2 cents thought.   

why are you calling it 'cheap' ?

Yep...  I totally agree. It can be the most annoying thing ever!  I mean forks I can deal with in the opening but when people think your stupid enough for Scholars Mate, that's just really annoying.

well there is a line in the french that goes

While it´s hardly refuted, completely sound might be pushing it a bit don´t you think? Even Nakamura has been playing 2. Qh5 less the last months/year.

I've fallen for the Scholar's mate sometimes out of a habit of playing Nf6 whenever I see Qh5.  Sometimes, they play Bc4 before that and I forget about it.  I forget the bishop is there and voila!  I'm checkmated.  The same thing for 2. Qh5, where I play Nf6 and drop the e pawn.

I agree that trying for the Scholar's mate is cheap, and 2. Qh5 is cheap because as far as I can see, it makes petty threats that are easily countered and then when they are over, Nf6 gets a tempo.  White risks falling behind in development.

However, 2. Bc4 is not as cheap as some people think.  Don't alway expect Qf3 or Qh5 for their 3rd move.  They might play a normal opening, just in a different move order.

2 Qh5 is not bad, as it indeed often compells black to play ...g6 (but he can just fianchetto, which is fine), but the tempos on the queen and the fact that this wasted time leaves white not really fighting for the initiative, should give black relatively easy equality. 2...Nf6!?  gives black a decent but unclear attack.

2 Qf3 on the other hand is rather poor. it isn't threatening after ...Nf6, and now white has to develop more passively with f3 taken away, and with little pressure on the center, black should have no trouble and could even try to play for an advantage.

I don't see why you should be offended by the use of the queen's gambit. It's not like they're maliciously using a chess machine to get the best moves to use against you. They're simply trying to win by being sneaky, which is a big part of chess. If you're inexperienced enough to lose to it then you're likely going to get walloped in a more conventional game as well. So if you know the opening, play against it and drop a friendly note suggesting they try out some different, better openings. If you're not familiar with the scholar's mate and lose to it, you can then learn how to defend against it. Both sides can benefit from this situation :)

I don't think he's talking about the Queen's gambit. I'm pretty sure he's talking about 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5?! (Qf3?!), and similar openings.

Oops! I'm too tired to post coherent thoughts. I meant the scholar's mate.

Hey all,

Sorry for not responding to anything in this post, I couldn't get on yesterday, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Yes, and with 2. Qh5, if Black plays 2. ... g6, White can play Qxe5 forking the King and Rook.

Thanks again,

Vincent