Final position — White delivers mate
Vienna Game: Smothered Mate
White wins in 5 moves by checkmate. (Bukavec - Koziskova, Kostelec 1950)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nc3 | Ne7 |
| 3. | Nd5 | Rg8 |
| 4. | Bc4 | g6 |
| 5. | Nf6# |
How the Vienna Game: Smothered Mate works
The Vienna Game: Smothered Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Vienna Game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 5, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Ne7 3.Nd5 Rg8 4.Bc4 g6 5.Nf6#. 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 (Bukavec - Koziskova, Kostelec 1950). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Vienna Game: Smothered 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.