Final position — White delivers mate
French Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Diemer–Buerger)
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Diemer - Buerger, Germany 1948)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | c4 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 5. | Bd2 | Qxd4 |
| 6. | Qa4+ | Nc6 |
| 7. | O-O-O | Bxc3 |
| 8. | Bg5 | Bxb2+ |
| 9. | Kb1 | Qb6 |
| 10. | Rd8# |
How the French Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Diemer–Buerger) works
The French Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Diemer–Buerger) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c4 dxe4 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bd2 Qxd4 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.O-O-O Bxc3 8.Bg5 Bxb2+ 9.Kb1 Qb6 10.Rd8#. 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 (Diemer - Buerger, Germany 1948). 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 (Diemer–Buerger) 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.