Final position — White delivers mate
Bishop Mate
White wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Harding - Unknown, London 1974)
The moves
| 1. | Nc3 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | d4 |
| 3. | Nd5 | f5 |
| 4. | Bc4 | fxe4 |
| 5. | Qh5+ | g6 |
| 6. | Qe5 | c6 |
| 7. | Nc7+ | Kd7 |
| 8. | Be6# |
How the Bishop Mate works
The Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 d4 3.Nd5 f5 4.Bc4 fxe4 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qe5 c6 7.Nc7+ Kd7 8.Be6#. 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 (Harding - Unknown, London 1974). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Bishop 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.