Final position — White delivers mate
Vienna Game: Bishop Mate
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Bass - Armstrong, USA 1952)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Nxe4 |
| 4. | Qh5 | Nd6 |
| 5. | Bb3 | Nc6 |
| 6. | d4 | exd4 |
| 7. | Nd5 | g6 |
| 8. | Qe2+ | Be7 |
| 9. | Nf6+ | Kf8 |
| 10. | Bh6# |
How the Vienna Game: Bishop Mate works
The Vienna Game: Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Vienna Game. 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.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nd5 g6 8.Qe2+ Be7 9.Nf6+ Kf8 10.Bh6#. 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 (Bass - Armstrong, USA 1952). 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: Bishop 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.