Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Opening: Back-Rank Mate
White wins in 3 moves by checkmate. (Mayfield - Trinks, Omaha 1959)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | g5 |
| 2. | Nc3 | f5 |
| 3. | Qh5# |
How the King's Pawn Opening: Back-Rank Mate works
The King's Pawn Opening: Back-Rank Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 3, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 g5 2.Nc3 f5 3.Qh5#. 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 (Mayfield - Trinks, Omaha 1959). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Opening: 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.