abcdefgh

Final position — White delivers mate

Vienna Game

Vienna Game: Smothered Mate #2

White wins in 4 moves by checkmate. (Reinle - Neureitser)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nd5 Ne7 4.Nf6#
1.e4e5
2.Nc3g6
3.Nd5Ne7
4.Nf6#

How the Vienna Game: Smothered Mate #2 works

The Vienna Game: Smothered Mate #2 is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Vienna Game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 4, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nd5 Ne7 4.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 (Reinle - Neureitser). 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 #2 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.

More Vienna Game traps

← Browse all chess traps