Final position — White delivers mate
English Opening: Smothered Mate
White wins in 6 moves by checkmate. (Corneliussen - Jensen, Denmark 1991)
The moves
| 1. | c4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nc3 | e5 |
| 3. | e3 | Ne7 |
| 4. | Nb5 | d5 |
| 5. | Qa4 | Bd7 |
| 6. | Nd6# |
How the English Opening: Smothered Mate works
The English Opening: Smothered Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the English Opening. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 e5 3.e3 Ne7 4.Nb5 d5 5.Qa4 Bd7 6.Nd6#. 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 (Corneliussen - Jensen, Denmark 1991). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the English Opening: Smothered 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.