Final position — White delivers mate
Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 6 moves by checkmate. (Correa - Barkoviak, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | c3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | e5 | Nd5 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Nf4 |
| 5. | Qf3 | Ng6 |
| 6. | Qxf7# |
How the Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate works
The Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 Nf4 5.Qf3 Ng6 6.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 (Correa - Barkoviak, Internet 1996). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Sicilian Defence: 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.