Openings
Although a quick mate on f7 is almost never seen in play above beginner level, the basic idea underlying it – that the f7-square, defended only by Black's king, is weak and therefore a good target for early attack – is the motivating principle behind a number of chess openings. For example, after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense), White's most popular continuation is 4. Ng5 attacking f7, which is awkward for Black to defend. The Fried Liver Attack even involves a sacrifice of the knight on f7.
The Wayward Queen Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Qh5?!) and Napoleon Opening (1. e4 e5 2. Qf3?!) are both aimed at threatening Scholar's Mate on the next move (3. Bc4). Although the Napoleon Opening is never seen in high-level competition, the Wayward Queen Attack has occasionally been tried in tournaments by Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura as a surprise and to achieve a practical position for White.
Read more about this topic: Scholar's Mate
Famous quotes containing the word openings:
“There are a thousand unnoticed openings ... which let a penetrating eye at once into a man’s soul; and I maintain ... that a man of sense does not lay down his hat in coming into a room,—or take it up in going out of it, but something escapes, which discovers him.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)