What is the earliest known appearance "Fool's Mate"? A quaint question I had lately; what is the earliest known appearance to &quot;Fool's Mate&quot;? I refer to both the name and/or the move sequence.
A quick search with Google Books revealed a reference dated to 1672 in &quot;The famous game of chesse-play&quot; by  Arthur Saul and John Barbier.
Here is a screenshot of the relevant text portion.
In reference  @Rewan Demontay's answer, I know that Augustus, Duke of Brunswick published Das Schach- oder Königsspiel under the pseudonym Gustavus Selenus in 1616. I can't confirm that this work actually mentions Fool's Mate (I don't speak German, and I can't find the full text in online references) or that there is no earlier reference.