Fools Mate - Why would white do that?

Hello everyone,

I'm new to studying chess strategies. I saw how the fools mate works and I was wondering why white would do those moves in the first place? Are there any strategies that justify moving the f pawn and the g pawn like that? Even if you know nothing about strategic chess you should be able to recognise how those are bad moves.

It's called the Fool's Mate for a reason. It only happens if black players extremely poorly.

A person who falls for fool's mate is a beginner who has just learned how the pieces move. They as yet have no strategy other than pushing their pawns as in checkers. As for why the F and G pawns specifically, most people are right-handed, so pushing those pawns first comes naturally.

Nobody would do them, it is used as a example of how someone can punish their opponent for making weaknesses on the kingside. Granted, it’s an extreme example, but it’s very effective, especially for beginners.

To be precise, it only happens if White plays extremely poorly.

Strangely I really did once get the three move mate with reversed colours playing some fellow I  met in a pub once. He did say before we started that he wasn't very good, but I thought - they all say that.