Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Game: Pawn Mate
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Sas - Unknown, Sambor 1904)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | exd4 |
| 4. | Qxd4 | dxe4 |
| 5. | Nd5 | c6 |
| 6. | Qe5+ | Kd7 |
| 7. | Qf5+ | Kd6 |
| 8. | Bf4+ | Kc5 |
| 9. | b4+ | Kd4 |
| 10. | c3# |
How the King's Pawn Game: Pawn Mate works
The King's Pawn Game: Pawn Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King'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.e4 e5 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 exd4 4.Qxd4 dxe4 5.Nd5 c6 6.Qe5+ Kd7 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Bf4+ Kc5 9.b4+ Kd4 10.c3#. 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 (Sas - Unknown, Sambor 1904). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Game: Pawn 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.