Final position — White delivers mate
Old Benoni Defence: Bishop Mate
White wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Charosh - Jaffe, New York 1936)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | c5 |
| 2. | d5 | Na6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 4. | e4 | Bg4 |
| 5. | Ne5 | Qa5+ |
| 6. | Bd2 | dxe5 |
| 7. | Bxa5 | Bxd1 |
| 8. | Bb5# |
How the Old Benoni Defence: Bishop Mate works
The Old Benoni Defence: Bishop Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Old Benoni Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 c5 2.d5 Na6 3.Nf3 d6 4.e4 Bg4 5.Ne5 Qa5+ 6.Bd2 dxe5 7.Bxa5 Bxd1 8.Bb5#. 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 (Charosh - Jaffe, New York 1936). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Old Benoni Defence: Bishop 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.