Final position — White delivers mate
Caro-Kann Defence: Bishop Mate (Reti–Tartakower)
White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Reti - Tartakower, Vienna 1910)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Qd3 | e5 |
| 6. | dxe5 | Qa5+ |
| 7. | Bd2 | Qxe5 |
| 8. | O-O-O | Nxe4 |
| 9. | Qd8+ | Kxd8 |
| 10. | Bg5+ | Kc7 |
| 11. | Bd8# |
How the Caro-Kann Defence: Bishop Mate (Reti–Tartakower) works
The Caro-Kann Defence: Bishop Mate (Reti–Tartakower) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Caro-Kann Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qd3 e5 6.dxe5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxe5 8.O-O-O Nxe4 9.Qd8+ Kxd8 10.Bg5+ Kc7 11.Bd8#. 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 (Reti - Tartakower, Vienna 1910). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Caro-Kann Defence: Bishop Mate (Reti–Tartakower) 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.