Final position — Black delivers mate
Budapest Defence: Knight Mate
Black wins in 7 moves by checkmate. (Rabott - Wall, Bill, 1996.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | e5 |
| 3. | dxe5 | Ne4 |
| 4. | f3 | Bb4+ |
| 5. | Bd2 | Qh4+ |
| 6. | g3 | Nxg3 |
| 7. | Bxb4 | Ne4# |
How the Budapest Defence: Knight Mate works
The Budapest Defence: Knight Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Budapest Defence. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.f3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Qh4+ 6.g3 Nxg3 7.Bxb4 Ne4#. 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 (Rabott - Wall, Bill, 1996.??.??). 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: Knight 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.