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Final position — Black delivers mate

Queen's Gambit

Queen's Gambit: Queen Mate (Schubert–Tipary)

Black wins in 12 moves by checkmate. (Schubert - Tipary, 1938.??.??)

The moves

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qd8 5.e4 e5 6.Qa4+ Bd7 7.Qb3 exd4 8.Qxb7 dxc3 9.Qxa8 cxb2 10.Bxb2 Bb4+ 11.Ke2 Bg4+ 12.Nf3 Qd2#
1.d4d5
2.c4Nf6
3.cxd5Qxd5
4.Nc3Qd8
5.e4e5
6.Qa4+Bd7
7.Qb3exd4
8.Qxb7dxc3
9.Qxa8cxb2
10.Bxb2Bb4+
11.Ke2Bg4+
12.Nf3Qd2#

How the Queen's Gambit: Queen Mate (Schubert–Tipary) works

The Queen's Gambit: Queen Mate (Schubert–Tipary) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Gambit. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 12, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qd8 5.e4 e5 6.Qa4+ Bd7 7.Qb3 exd4 8.Qxb7 dxc3 9.Qxa8 cxb2 10.Bxb2 Bb4+ 11.Ke2 Bg4+ 12.Nf3 Qd2#. 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 (Schubert - Tipary, 1938.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

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