Final position — Black delivers mate
Budapest Defence: Smothered Mate
Black wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Lagha - Contedini, 1960.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | e5 |
| 3. | dxe5 | Ne4 |
| 4. | Qc2 | Bb4+ |
| 5. | Nd2 | d5 |
| 6. | exd6 | Bf5 |
| 7. | Qa4+ | Nc6 |
| 8. | a3 | Nc5 |
| 9. | dxc7 | Qe7 |
| 10. | Qd1 | Nd3# |
How the Budapest Defence: Smothered Mate works
The Budapest Defence: Smothered Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Budapest Defence. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Qc2 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 d5 6.exd6 Bf5 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.a3 Nc5 9.dxc7 Qe7 10.Qd1 Nd3#. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Lagha - Contedini, 1960.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Budapest Defence: Smothered 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.