Final position — White delivers mate
Alekhine's Defence: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Wren - Sprow, 1944.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | e5 | Nd5 |
| 3. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Be6 |
| 5. | Nc3 | Nb6 |
| 6. | Bxe6 | fxe6 |
| 7. | Ng5 | h6 |
| 8. | Nxe6 | Qd7 |
| 9. | Qh5+ | g6 |
| 10. | Qxg6# |
How the Alekhine's Defence: Back-Rank Mate works
The Alekhine's Defence: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Alekhine's defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Be6 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.Bxe6 fxe6 7.Ng5 h6 8.Nxe6 Qd7 9.Qh5+ g6 10.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 (Wren - Sprow, 1944.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Alekhine's 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.