Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Casafus - Formanek, Lewisham 1981)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | d4 | exd4 |
| 4. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 5. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 6. | Nxc3 | Bb4 |
| 7. | e5 | Ng4 |
| 8. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 9. | Ng5+ | Kg8 |
| 10. | Qd5+ | Kf8 |
| 11. | Qf7# |
How the King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate works
The King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nxc3 Bb4 7.e5 Ng4 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 (Casafus - Formanek, Lewisham 1981). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Game: 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.