Final position — White delivers mate
Robatsch Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Cheron–Polikier)
White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Cheron - Polikier, Chamonix 1927)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | g6 |
| 2. | d4 | Bg7 |
| 3. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Nd7 |
| 5. | Bc4 | Ngf6 |
| 6. | e5 | dxe5 |
| 7. | dxe5 | Nh5 |
| 8. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 9. | Ng5+ | Kg8 |
| 10. | Qd5+ | Kf8 |
| 11. | Qf7# |
How the Robatsch Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Cheron–Polikier) works
The Robatsch Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Cheron–Polikier) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Robatsch Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nh5 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Ng5+ Kg8 10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.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 (Cheron - Polikier, Chamonix 1927). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Robatsch Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Cheron–Polikier) 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.