Final position — White delivers mate
French Defence: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Blom - Jensen, Copenhagen 1938)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe4 | Bd6 |
| 5. | Bd3 | Ne7 |
| 6. | Bg5 | O-O |
| 7. | Nf6+ | gxf6 |
| 8. | Bxf6 | Qd7 |
| 9. | Bxh7+ | Kxh7 |
| 10. | Qh5+ | Kg8 |
| 11. | Qh8# |
How the French Defence: Back-Rank Mate works
The French Defence: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.Bg5 O-O 7.Nf6+ gxf6 8.Bxf6 Qd7 9.Bxh7+ Kxh7 10.Qh5+ Kg8 11.Qh8#. 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 (Blom - Jensen, Copenhagen 1938). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French 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.