Final position — White delivers mate
Queen's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (Baitsch–Pahlke)
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Baitsch - Pahlke, Baden 1956)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | dxe4 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | f3 | exf3 |
| 5. | Qxf3 | Qxd4 |
| 6. | Be3 | Qe5 |
| 7. | O-O-O | Bg4 |
| 8. | Qxb7 | Qxe3+ |
| 9. | Kb1 | Bxd1 |
| 10. | Qc8# |
How the Queen's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (Baitsch–Pahlke) works
The Queen's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (Baitsch–Pahlke) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, 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 Qe5 7.O-O-O Bg4 8.Qxb7 Qxe3+ 9.Kb1 Bxd1 10.Qc8#. 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 (Baitsch - Pahlke, Baden 1956). 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: Back-Rank Mate (Baitsch–Pahlke) 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.