The most famous queen sacrifice in chess. Hand the queen over on purpose and let three minor pieces mate the king.
Légal's Mate is the most famous queen sacrifice in beginner chess: give up the most valuable piece and finish with three little ones. Learn to spring it, then learn the move that makes it impossible.
| Soundness | A classic trap — refuted by not grabbing the queen |
|---|---|
| Theory load | Minimal |
| Best for | Learning the pinned-knight queen sacrifice pattern |
| Plays as | White |
| Key idea | Offer the queen so three minor pieces deliver the mate |
Is Légal's Mate worth playing?
A genuine trap that only works if the defender pins your knight and then grabs the queen greedily — so it's a teaching weapon more than a reliable plan. Its real value is learning never to take a sacrificed queen without checking what's behind it.
Is Légal's Mate a real checkmate?
Yes — against the greedy capture, it is a forced mate; the trap only fails because a careful defender declines the queen.
Why is it called Légal's Mate?
It's named after an 18th-century French player who famously delivered the queen-sacrifice mating pattern in a recorded game.
The trap, move by move
- 1. e4 e5
- 2. Nf3 d6
- 3. Bc4 Bg4
- 4. Nc3 g6
- 5. Nxe5 Bxd1
- 6. Bxf7+ Ke7
- 7. Nd5#
The final position
Frequently asked questions
A famous trap where White sacrifices the queen and delivers checkmate with three minor pieces, springing when Black pins the knight and then greedily takes the queen.
Let Black pin your knight, move the knight anyway to offer the queen, and if Black takes it, mate follows with the bishops and remaining knight.
Don't capture the offered queen — or simply don't pin the knight in the opening. Once the queen isn't taken, White has just blundered a piece.