Final position — White delivers mate
Scandinavian Defence: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (Vann - Clemow, Plymouth 1989)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | d5 |
| 2. | exd5 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Bb5+ | Bd7 |
| 4. | Bxd7+ | Qxd7 |
| 5. | Nc3 | Nxd5 |
| 6. | Nxd5 | Qxd5 |
| 7. | Qf3 | Qc4 |
| 8. | Qxb7 | Qc6 |
| 9. | Qc8# |
How the Scandinavian Defence: Back-Rank Mate works
The Scandinavian Defence: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Scandinavian Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.Nc3 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.Qf3 Qc4 8.Qxb7 Qc6 9.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 (Vann - Clemow, Plymouth 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Scandinavian Defence: Back-Rank 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.