Final position — White delivers mate
Philidor's Defence: Queen Mate
White wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (C41)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | d4 | Bg4 |
| 4. | dxe5 | Bxf3 |
| 5. | Qxf3 | dxe5 |
| 6. | Bc4 | f6 |
| 7. | Qb3 | b6 |
| 8. | Bf7+ | Kd7 |
| 9. | Qe6# |
How the Philidor's Defence: Queen Mate works
The Philidor's Defence: Queen Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Philidor's defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 f6 7.Qb3 b6 8.Bf7+ Kd7 9.Qe6#. 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 (C41). 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: Queen 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.