Final position — White delivers mate
Queen's Pawn Game: Smothered Mate
White wins in 12 moves by checkmate. (Queen - Queen)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | Bg5 | Ne4 |
| 3. | Bf4 | c5 |
| 4. | f3 | Nf6 |
| 5. | dxc5 | Na6 |
| 6. | e4 | Nxc5 |
| 7. | Nc3 | d6 |
| 8. | Qd2 | Bd7 |
| 9. | O-O-O | Qa5 |
| 10. | Kb1 | Rd8 |
| 11. | Nd5 | Qxd2 |
| 12. | Nc7# |
How the Queen's Pawn Game: Smothered Mate works
The Queen's Pawn Game: Smothered Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 12, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 c5 4.f3 Nf6 5.dxc5 Na6 6.e4 Nxc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Qd2 Bd7 9.O-O-O Qa5 10.Kb1 Rd8 11.Nd5 Qxd2 12.Nc7#. 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 (Queen - Queen). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Queen's Pawn 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.