Final position — White delivers mate
Giuoco Piano: Bishop Mate
White wins in 14 moves by checkmate. (Boleslavsky - Scitov, Moscow 1933)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Bc5 |
| 4. | c3 | Nf6 |
| 5. | d4 | exd4 |
| 6. | cxd4 | Bb6 |
| 7. | e5 | Ng4 |
| 8. | h3 | Nh6 |
| 9. | d5 | Ne7 |
| 10. | d6 | Ng6 |
| 11. | Bg5 | f6 |
| 12. | exf6 | gxf6 |
| 13. | Qe2+ | Kf8 |
| 14. | Bxh6# |
How the Giuoco Piano: Bishop Mate works
The Giuoco Piano: Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Giuoco Piano. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 14, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb6 7.e5 Ng4 8.h3 Nh6 9.d5 Ne7 10.d6 Ng6 11.Bg5 f6 12.exf6 gxf6 13.Qe2+ Kf8 14.Bxh6#. 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 (Boleslavsky - Scitov, Moscow 1933). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Giuoco Piano: 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.