Final position — Black delivers mate
Queen's Gambit: Back-Rank Mate
Black wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Grassel - Rust, Indiana 1974)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | c4 | c5 |
| 3. | dxc5 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 5. | Bg5 | Ne4 |
| 6. | Bf4 | Qa5+ |
| 7. | Nbd2 | Qxc5 |
| 8. | Rc1 | Qxf2# |
How the Queen's Gambit: Back-Rank Mate works
The Queen's Gambit: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Gambit. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5 3.dxc5 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.Bf4 Qa5+ 7.Nbd2 Qxc5 8.Rc1 Qxf2#. 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 (Grassel - Rust, Indiana 1974). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Queen's Gambit: Back-Rank 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.