Final position — Black delivers mate
King's Pawn Game: Smothered Mate
Black wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (NN - Canal, 1935.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Ne2 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 4. | Nbc3 | Qa5 |
| 5. | d4 | Nc6 |
| 6. | d5 | Nb4 |
| 7. | Bd2 | Bf5 |
| 8. | Rc1 | Bxc2 |
| 9. | Rxc2 | Nd3# |
How the King's Pawn Game: Smothered Mate works
The King's Pawn Game: Smothered Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nbc3 Qa5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Nb4 7.Bd2 Bf5 8.Rc1 Bxc2 9.Rxc2 Nd3#. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (NN - Canal, 1935.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Game: Smothered 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.