How many moves of head start does white need for a guaranteed win? As we all know, it is not known whether white can always win in chess with optimal play. If, however, white got to make two moves before black made their first move would they be able to win with perfect play? What would those first two moves be? How about if white gets three &quot;headstart moves&quot;?
If white is allowed four moves of head start then it is clearly a forced mate as can be seen from the fact that a scholar's mate can be achieved in four moves if black waits patiently.
I feel like three moves would be enough of a headstart, even though mate can't be achieved immediately, though I could be wrong. Any ideas or strategies are appreciated.
There is a similar ancient question, but this isn't a duplicate since White may move anywhere.
For an upper bound, I can prove a guaranteed win for White in 5 moves. Indeed, it is reminiscent of Scholar's Mate.
[FEN &quot;&quot;]

1. e3 null 2. Bc4 null 3. Qf3 null 4. Nh3 null 5. Ng5

With Black to move, as White has now used up their five given moves, Stockfish announces a mate in 6.
[FEN &quot;rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/6N1/2B5/4PQ2/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K2R b KQkq - 0 1&quot;]

1... d5 2. Qxf7+ Kd7 3. Qxd5+ Ke8 4. Qf7+ Kd7 5. Qf5+ Kc6 6. Qb5+ Kd6 7. Ne4#

(If Black plays 1... d6?, then it is instead a mate in four with 2. Bxf7+ Kd7 3. Be6+ Ke8 4. Qf7#.)
The problem for a setup four is that, with the Scholar's Mate setup, f7 needs to be attacked thrice, which doesn't seem possible. Additionally, there is no obvious way to do it without Scholar's Mate.