Final position — Black delivers mate
French Defence: Smothered Mate (Grossner–Budrich)
Black wins in 7 moves by checkmate. (Grossner - Budrich, East Germany 1949)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d3 | d5 |
| 3. | Nd2 | Nc6 |
| 4. | Ne2 | e5 |
| 5. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 6. | c4 | Nb4 |
| 7. | cxd5 | Nxd3# |
How the French Defence: Smothered Mate (Grossner–Budrich) works
The French Defence: Smothered Mate (Grossner–Budrich) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Ne2 e5 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.c4 Nb4 7.cxd5 Nd3#. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Grossner - Budrich, East Germany 1949). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: Smothered Mate (Grossner–Budrich) 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.