Frédéric Lazard

Frédéric Lazard (20 February 1883, in Marseille – 18 November 1948, in Le Vésinet) was a French chess master, problemist and journalist.

A very short miniature attributed to Amédée Gibaud and Lazard is frequently reproduced in chess literature,[12][13] sometimes with the claim that it was the shortest game ever played between masters in a formal setting.

Black (Lazard) rapidly develops his king's knight to e3 after White (Gibaud) weakens the defense of the square.

In the final position White is unable to prevent the capture of his queen, because doing so would allow Black to force checkmate: 5. fxe3 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qxg3#.

Although the four-move version of the game is not accepted as historically accurate, it illustrates several principles of gameplay: the possibility for rapid development to cause serious problems for an opponent, the importance of not weakening the defense of critical squares, and the importance of defending a structural weakness on the kingside in the initial phase of the game (especially involving the f- and g- pawns), which if left unguarded may lead to a quick checkmate, akin to Fool's mate.