Final position — White delivers mate
Petrov's Defence: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Hess - Born, Germany 1990)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nxe5 | d6 |
| 4. | Nxf7 | Kxf7 |
| 5. | d4 | Nxe4 |
| 6. | Qh5+ | Kg8 |
| 7. | Qd5+ | Be6 |
| 8. | Qxe6# |
How the Petrov's Defence: Back-Rank Mate works
The Petrov's Defence: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. 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 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.d4 Nxe4 6.Qh5+ Kg8 7.Qd5+ Be6 8.Qxe6#. 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 (Hess - Born, Germany 1990). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Petrov's 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.