Final position — White delivers mate
Italian Game: Bishop Mate
White wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Nortje - NN, 1985.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Be7 |
| 4. | d4 | exd4 |
| 5. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 6. | Qd5 | d6 |
| 7. | Qxf7+ | Kd7 |
| 8. | Be6# |
How the Italian Game: Bishop Mate works
The Italian Game: Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Italian Game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.d4 exd4 5.c3 dxc3 6.Qd5 d6 7.Qxf7+ Kd7 8.Be6#. 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 (Nortje - NN, 1985.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Italian Game: 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.