Final position — White delivers mate
Philidor's Defence: Knight Mate
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Rimmer - Hughes, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bg4 |
| 4. | Be2 | Nf6 |
| 5. | O-O | d5 |
| 6. | Nxe5 | Bxe2 |
| 7. | Qxe2 | dxe4 |
| 8. | Nxe4 | Nc6 |
| 9. | Nxc6 | bxc6 |
| 10. | Nxf6# |
How the Philidor's Defence: Knight Mate works
The Philidor's Defence: Knight Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Philidor'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 d6 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.Be2 Nf6 5.O-O d5 6.Nxe5 Bxe2 7.Qxe2 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nc6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Nxf6#. 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 (Rimmer - Hughes, 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 Philidor's Defence: Knight 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.