Final position — White delivers mate
King's Gambit: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 13 moves by checkmate. (Urbano - Carrero, 1946.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | exf4 |
| 3. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Nh6 |
| 5. | O-O | Be7 |
| 6. | d4 | g5 |
| 7. | Nc3 | Bd7 |
| 8. | h4 | f6 |
| 9. | Nh2 | Nc6 |
| 10. | Qh5+ | Kf8 |
| 11. | Qxh6+ | Ke8 |
| 12. | Qh5+ | Kf8 |
| 13. | Qf7# |
How the King's Gambit: Back-Rank Mate works
The King's Gambit: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 13, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nh6 5.O-O Be7 6.d4 g5 7.Nc3 Bd7 8.h4 f6 9.Nh2 Nc6 10.Qh5+ Kf8 11.Qxh6+ Ke8 12.Qh5+ Kf8 13.Qf7#. 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 (Urbano - Carrero, 1946.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Gambit: 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.