Final position — White delivers mate
Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Vasiukov–Yasseem)
White wins in 12 moves by checkmate. (Vasiukov - Yasseem, Qatar 1992)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 4. | Qxd4 | a6 |
| 5. | Be3 | Nf6 |
| 6. | Nc3 | Nc6 |
| 7. | Qd2 | e6 |
| 8. | O-O-O | Qc7 |
| 9. | Bf4 | Ne5 |
| 10. | Nxe5 | dxe5 |
| 11. | Bxe5 | Qxe5 |
| 12. | Qd8# |
How the Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Vasiukov–Yasseem) works
The Sicilian Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Vasiukov–Yasseem) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 12, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Qd2 e6 8.O-O-O Qc7 9.Bf4 Ne5 10.Nxe5 dxe5 11.Bxe5 Qxe5 12.Qd8#. 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 (Vasiukov - Yasseem, Qatar 1992). 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 (Vasiukov–Yasseem) 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.