abcdefgh

Final position — White delivers mate

Dutch

Dutch: Bishop Mate

White wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (Wall - Macho, Internet 1996)

The moves

1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g4 h6 5.f4 d5 6.Be2 a6 7.g5 Nfd7 8.Bh5+ g6 9.Bxg6#
1.d4f5
2.e4fxe4
3.Nc3Nf6
4.g4h6
5.f4d5
6.Be2a6
7.g5Nfd7
8.Bh5+g6
9.Bxg6#

How the Dutch: Bishop Mate works

The Dutch: Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Dutch. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g4 h6 5.f4 d5 6.Be2 a6 7.g5 Nfd7 8.Bh5+ g6 9.Bxg6#. 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 (Wall - Macho, Internet 1996). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Dutch: 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.

More Dutch traps

← Browse all chess traps