Five Chess Opening Traps Club Players Should Know

Memorise the ideas, not just the moves, and you will spot danger sooner

Opening traps are short tactical sequences in which a tempting move creates a specific punishment. They teach pattern recognition: a loose queen, an overworked defender or a king left in the centre can matter more than the material count. They are not a substitute for sound development; a player who hunts only for tricks will fall behind when the opponent declines the bait.

The five examples below are all documented lines. Some are genuine opening traps; the Fried Liver Attack is more accurately an attacking variation in which Black’s early recapture is the danger point. In every case, the practical lesson is to ask what the opponent’s last move changed before reaching for a pawn or piece.

Algebraic notation identifies a piece by a letter—N for knight, B for bishop, R for rook and Q for queen—while pawn moves use only the destination square. An x records a capture, + gives check and # gives checkmate. A gambit is an opening in which a player offers material, usually a pawn, for activity or compensation. The lines are short enough to play through, but the explanation matters more than memorising them.

Legal’s Mate: the pin that is not real

The Legal Trap, also called Legal’s Mate or the Blackburne Trap, is named after the French player Sire de Légall. The pattern uses a bishop and two knights after Black’s bishop appears to pin the f3-knight to White’s queen. One documented move order is:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. Nxe5! Bxd1?? 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Nd5#

White takes e5, develops the f3-knight and points the c4-bishop at f7. Black’s 3…d6 supports e5; 4.Nc3 develops; and 4…Bg4 pins the f3-knight. White’s 5.h3 attacks the bishop. The losing 5…Bh5 preserves only the appearance of a pin. White’s 6.Nxe5! offers the queen; after 6…Bxd1, 7.Bxf7+ drives the king away and 8.Nd5 is mate.

After 6.Nxe5, Black should not grab the queen. The documented analysis gives 6…Nxe5 as the best practical course, after which White has won a pawn. The trap works because Black treats a visual pin as absolute instead of checking White’s forcing moves.

Fried Liver Attack: the risky recapture

The Fried Liver Attack, or Fegatello Attack, comes from the Two Knights Defense. Its defining move is a knight sacrifice against the king:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5?! 6. Nxf7

White’s e-pawn and Black’s e-pawn contest the centre. 2.Nf3 attacks e5, 2…Nc6 protects it, 3.Bc4 pressures f7 and 3…Nf6 attacks e4. White’s 4.Ng5 targets f7; Black strikes with 4…d5; and after 5.exd5, the risky 5…Nxd5?! allows 6.Nxf7, attacking the rook on h8 and queen on d8.

The mistake is Black’s recapture; the documented reference gives 5…Na5 as the sounder response. If Black takes with 6…Kxf7, White continues 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3: the queen checks, the king moves, and the knight joins the attack. Black can survive accurately, so this is an attack rather than a guaranteed mate.

The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.

Savielly Tartakower, grandmaster

Englund Gambit: the bishop grab

The Englund Gambit begins 1. d4 e5, an ambitious pawn offer considered weak at top level but still seen in club play. Its best-known trap is:

1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. Bf4 Qb4+ 5. Bd2 Qxb2 6. Bc3?? Bb4! 7. Bxb4 Nxb4

White takes e5. Black develops the c6-knight, pressures e5 with the queen, checks with 4…Qb4+ and wins b2 after 5.Bd2 Qxb2. The losing 6.Bc3?? tries to trap the queen but leaves c3 vulnerable. After 6…Bb4, the c6-knight recaptures on b4.

If White instead plays 7.Qd2, the documented continuation is 7…Bxc3 8.Qxc3 Qc1#: Black’s bishop removes the defender, then the queen reaches c1 with mate. White avoids the trap with 6.Nc3, developing rather than trying to win the queen.

Blackburne–Shilling Gambit: greed on e5

This Italian Game trap starts with a deliberately awkward knight move:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4 4. Nxe5? Qg5 5. Nxf7?? Qxg2 6. Rf1 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Nf3#

Black’s 3…Nd4 offers e5. White’s 4.Nxe5? takes the bait and threatens 5.Nxf7, a fork of queen and rook. Black’s 4…Qg5 attacks the knight and g2; White’s 5.Nxf7?? ignores that threat. After 5…Qxg2, 6.Rf1 shields the king, but 6…Qxe4+ takes e4 with check.

White’s final mistake is 7.Be2??, placing the bishop in front of its king while the d4-knight controls e2. Black’s 7…Nf3# is smothered mate. White can avoid it with 4.Nxd4 or by developing instead of taking e5.

Lasker Trap: an underpromotion in the Albin

The Lasker Trap belongs to the Albin Countergambit, which begins 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5. It is famous for a rare underpromotion—choosing a knight instead of a queen or rook:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. e3?! Bb4+ 5. Bd2 dxe3 6. Bxb4?? exf2+ 7. Ke2 fxg1=N+!

Black’s 2…e5 challenges the Queen’s Gambit centre. After 3.dxe5 d4, White’s 4.e3?! is careless; the documented reference prefers 4.Nf3. Black checks with 4…Bb4+, blocks with 5.Bd2 and captures on e3. White should accept doubled pawns with 6.fxe3, not play 6.Bxb4??, which allows 6…exf2+.

White must play 7.Ke2 because 7.Kxf2 loses the queen to …Qxd1. Black’s 7…fxg1=N+ promotes to a knight with check; a queen promotion would allow 8.Qxd8+ and 9.Rxg1. White avoids the sequence with 4.Nf3 or 6.fxe3.

What to remember at the board

These examples share a practical pattern: a false pin, risky recapture, active-queen chase, greedy capture or ignored check. In each case, the winning move is forcing—check, capture or a direct threat.

Before taking material, ask what checks the opponent has, what is undefended and which piece is doing more than one job. Develop, contest the centre and castle when safe. Trap-hunting sharpens calculation, but sound development keeps a declined trap from becoming a bad position.

Frequently asked questions

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