Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (Jahn–Bayer)
White wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (Jahn - Bayer, Germany 1992)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | d4 | f6 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Bb4+ |
| 5. | c3 | Ba5 |
| 6. | dxe5 | fxe5 |
| 7. | Nxe5 | Nxe5 |
| 8. | Qh5+ | Nf7 |
| 9. | Qxf7# |
How the King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (Jahn–Bayer) works
The King's Pawn Game: Back-Rank Mate (Jahn–Bayer) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 f6 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 Ba5 6.dxe5 fxe5 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.Qh5+ Nf7 9.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 (Jahn - Bayer, Germany 1992). 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 (Jahn–Bayer) 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.