Final position — White delivers mate
Nimzovich Defence: Knight Mate
White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Clews - Ellison, Postal)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nc6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Qxd4 |
| 5. | Qe2 | Bg4 |
| 6. | f3 | Bh5 |
| 7. | Be3 | Qb4 |
| 8. | O-O-O | a6 |
| 9. | Nd5 | Qa5 |
| 10. | Bb6 | cxb6 |
| 11. | Nc7# |
How the Nimzovich Defence: Knight Mate works
The Nimzovich Defence: Knight Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Nimzovich Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qxd4 5.Qe2 Bg4 6.f3 Bh5 7.Be3 Qb4 8.O-O-O a6 9.Nd5 Qa5 10.Bb6 cxb6 11.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 (Clews - Ellison, Postal). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Nimzovich Defence: Knight 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.