From the starting position in chess, the fastest checkmate possible can happen in two moves. It's best known as the Fool's Mate. A player cannot force his opponent into Fool's Mate. White has to start the game with the two worst moves. Let's take a look.

Now you can see why it is called the Fool's Mate! White has to play two very bad moves back-to-back for this checkmate to happen. You may never get the opportunity in your life to checkmate your opponent so easily, but this pattern is useful to know.

Here are two games where a variation of the Fool's Mate happens.

The Fool's Mate pattern has been around for a long time as this game from 1619 shows!

Gioachino Greco was one of the first authors of chess.

How can you as White avoid the two-move checkmate? Just don't push the f-pawn! This is good advice for newer players in general. Moving the f-pawn opens dangerous lines to the king, and is best avoided while you are learning the game. If you don't move the f-pawn, even a grandmaster cannot checkmate you in two moves.

Now that you know this checkmate, why not create a Chess.com account and start your own game? It can't go that badly!