Final position — White delivers mate
Sicilian Defence: Smothered Mate (McCrowther–McCann)
White wins in 6 moves by checkmate. (McCrowther - McCann, Scotland 1893)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 4. | Nxd4 | e5 |
| 5. | Nf5 | Nge7 |
| 6. | Nd6# |
How the Sicilian Defence: Smothered Mate (McCrowther–McCann) works
The Sicilian Defence: Smothered Mate (McCrowther–McCann) 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.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nf5 Nge7 6.Nd6#. 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 (McCrowther - McCann, Scotland 1893). 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: Smothered Mate (McCrowther–McCann) 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.