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Final position — White delivers mate

Queen's pawn game

Queen's Pawn Game: Bishop Mate

White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Bartsch - Jennen)

The moves

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 Qxd4 6.Be3 Qb4 7.O-O-O Bg4 8.Nb5 e5 9.Nxc7+ Ke7 10.Qxb7 Qxb7 11.Bc5#
1.d4d5
2.e4dxe4
3.Nc3Nf6
4.f3exf3
5.Qxf3Qxd4
6.Be3Qb4
7.O-O-OBg4
8.Nb5e5
9.Nxc7+Ke7
10.Qxb7Qxb7
11.Bc5#

How the Queen's Pawn Game: Bishop Mate works

The Queen's Pawn Game: Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 Qxd4 6.Be3 Qb4 7.O-O-O Bg4 8.Nb5 e5 9.Nxc7+ Ke7 10.Qxb7 Qxb7 11.Bc5#. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.

This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Bartsch - Jennen). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Queen's Pawn Game: Bishop Mate in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.

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