Final position — White delivers mate
Two Knights Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Bubar)
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Wall - Bubar, Tacoma 1968)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Ng5 | Nxe4 |
| 5. | Bxf7+ | Ke7 |
| 6. | Nxe4 | Kxf7 |
| 7. | Qf3+ | Kg8 |
| 8. | Ng5 | Qe8 |
| 9. | Qd5+ | Qf7 |
| 10. | Qxf7# |
How the Two Knights Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Bubar) works
The Two Knights Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Bubar) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Two Knights 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 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.Nxe4 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Kg8 8.Ng5 Qe8 9.Qd5+ Qf7 10.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 (Wall - Bubar, Tacoma 1968). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Two Knights Defence: Back-Rank Mate (Wall–Bubar) 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.