3 years ago

195

Welcome to the top ten fastest checkmates!
Each entry on this list is the oldest documented example of a game with the
given move count that I have managed to find.
If you can find any games older than these, please let me know as I love mating
really fast.

There are no known images of most of the players in this list, so I will be using historically accurate and respectful stand-ins for them.

10th place (13 moves):
Kermur Sire De Legal vs Saint Brie, 1750 (The Legal Trap)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nxe5 Bxd1 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1251892

9th place (12 moves):
Anonymous vs Du Mont, 1802
1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. g3 Qg5 5. Nf3 Qxg3+ 6. hxg3 Bxg3#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1250613

8th place (11 moves):
James McGrouther vs Robert McCann, 1893
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nf5 Nge7 6. Nd6#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1242986

7th place (10 moves):
B. R. vs Alexander Wagner, 1902
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 Bc5 5. Nf3 Qf2#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1080001

6th place (9 moves):
De Fraenkell vs Anonymous, 1934
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Ne7 4. Ne4 f5 5. Nd6#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1243076

5th place (8 moves):
Tchinenoff vs Maillard, 1925
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. fxe5 Qh4+ 4. Ke2 Qe4#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1076257

4th place (7 moves):
Greco vs Anonymous, 1620s (The Schollers Mate)
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qxf7#
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101075891802

3rd place (6 moves):
Lindemann vs Echtermeyer, 1893
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Ke2 Qe4#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1242985

2nd place (5 moves):
Hans Klip vs Tom Bottema, 1990
1. e4 f6 2. d4 g5 3. Qh5#
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1243678

1st place (4 moves):
Greco vs Anonymous, 1620s (The Fooles Mate)
1.f3 e6 2.g4 Qh4#
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101075891802

#top10
#topten
#checkmate

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