Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (DeVisser–Jennings)
White wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (DeVisser - Jennings, 1922.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | d4 | exd4 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Be7 |
| 5. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 6. | Qd5 | Nh6 |
| 7. | Bxh6 | gxh6 |
| 8. | Qxf7# |
How the King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (DeVisser–Jennings) works
The King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (DeVisser–Jennings) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Be7 5.c3 dxc3 6.Qd5 Nh6 7.Bxh6 gxh6 8.Qxf7#. 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 (DeVisser - Jennings, 1922.??.??). 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 (DeVisser–Jennings) 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.