Final position — White delivers mate
Petrov's Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Fitz)
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Wall - Fitz, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nxe5 | Nxe4 |
| 4. | Qe2 | d6 |
| 5. | Nxf7 | Kxf7 |
| 6. | Qxe4 | c6 |
| 7. | Qf3+ | Kg8 |
| 8. | d4 | c5 |
| 9. | Qd5+ | Be6 |
| 10. | Qxe6# |
How the Petrov's Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Fitz) works
The Petrov's Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Fitz) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's 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 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 d6 5.Nxf7 Kxf7 6.Qxe4 c6 7.Qf3+ Kg8 8.d4 c5 9.Qd5+ Be6 10.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 (Wall - Fitz, Internet 1996). 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 (Wall–Fitz) 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.