Final position — White delivers mate
Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Martin–Fernandez)
White wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (Martin - Fernandez, Postal 1995)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | d4 | Nc6 |
| 4. | d5 | Nb8 |
| 5. | Ng5 | h6 |
| 6. | Bb5+ | Nd7 |
| 7. | Ne6 | fxe6 |
| 8. | Qh5+ | g6 |
| 9. | Qxg6# |
How the Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Martin–Fernandez) works
The Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Martin–Fernandez) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.d5 Nb8 5.Ng5 h6 6.Bb5+ Nd7 7.Ne6 fxe6 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxg6#. 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 (Martin - Fernandez, Postal 1995). 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 (Martin–Fernandez) 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.