Chess lessons › Famous chess games
Short games that end in mate
The Légal mate, a Caro-Kann trap and Réti’s famous queen sacrifice: three quick finishes.
The idea
In these famous traps, one careless opening move leads to mate.
- Black has just taken White’s queen, but it is a trap.
- The bishop takes with check, and the king has only one square.
- Then the knight gives checkmate, even though White has no queen.
In a game: Before you grab a piece in the opening, check that it does not let your king be mated.
How the lesson begins
Some games are over in a handful of moves. Here are three famous finishes. The first is a trap from Paris in 1750. The second is a well-known trap in the Caro-Kann Defence. The third was played in Vienna in 1910 by Richard Réti against Savielly Tartakower, and it ends with a queen sacrifice that is still shown in every chess book. Each one is a trap you can fall into yourself.
In the Légal trap Black’s bishop pins the knight on f3 to the queen, and Black plays 4...g6. White ignores the pin and plays 5.Nxe5!
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4 The bishop pins the knight to the queen.
- 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nxe5 The knight takes the pawn and ignores the pin.
Find the move
Black took the queen. White to move. Find the forced mate in two.
A hint
The bishop gives check on f7.
Show the answer
6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5#
Bxf7+ forces Ke7, and then Nd5# is checkmate. White has given up the queen, but a bishop and a knight finish the game.