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Questions tagged [opening-traps]

An opening variation where the opponent is tempted to play a bad move

An opening trap is where the opponent facing the trap is tempted to play a superficially pleasing, but bad move. For example, we can call Scholar's mate a trap. White plays an inaccurate move, hoping that Black will play 3...Nf6??, attacking the queen, but it fails to 4. Qxf7 checkmate.

Opening traps may also come at chance. A normal developing move is incorrect for some reason or another. As an example, the Siberian Trap in the Smith-Morra gambit.

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Wrong lines of play to illuminate right lines

De Firmian's Modern Chess Openings is a good book. I like it. However, the book teaches right lines of play. It teaches few wrong lines. Should one not also study wrong lines—the blunders, the pitfalls, in otherwise good openings—to learn why the…
thb
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What to do when your opponent doesn't play along in the opening?

I looked around and could not find an answer for this. I've studied a pretty good amount of opening theory and so I know the "correct" moves for some basic lines. Most e4 openings and a fair amount of Nimzo-Indian, Pirc, and QGD for D4. The thing…
Raydot
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Can a beginner's "opening repertoire" consist of only "opening principles"?

Let's say I play only e4/e5 (but this question might also come up on d4/d5). If I was a beginner - unaware of opening theory - but could count at least 3 moves ahead, could I survive (=not be lost at move 15) basically any type of opening by…
Ferazhu
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How do you get to this trap position?

[FEN "rn1qkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/2B3b1/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 1"] 1...Nf6 2.Bxf7+ Kxf7 3.Ne5+ Kg8 4.Nxg4 It's black to move. There is a trap: 1...Nf6 2.Bxf7+ Kxf7 3.Ne5+ Kg8 4.Nxg4 and white wins a pawn (from Capablanca's Chess…
MBolin
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Who has the edge in "gg chess"?

EDIT: I think a better name is gg chess, because "gg" (good game) is what folks frequently say at the end of a game. At major chess events, at the end of a drawn game, the players & arbiter arrange the pieces in the following illegal position, to…
Laska
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Traps in the Owen's opening

I recently heard about Owen's opening. 1. e4 b6 is the starting move which can transform into various lines. I am just curious about the traps (for both black and white) involved in this opening. I tried surfing on the internet but couldn't get any…
Dark_Knight
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What are some good openings with a trap to play against beginners?

For instance, I consider the Queen's Gambit to be such an opening. Most beginners playing Black would accept the gambit, and try to defend their pawn too, leading to inferior lines for Black. Are there any others?
Marcus Junius Brutus
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How can you deal with gambits/traps opening, assuming you don't know the theory of the opening yet?

For example, the Danish opening: [FEN ""] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 where basically, White gives up two pawns for positional play. And if you don't know the theory, you can lose by falling into traps. So, how can you deal…
TheFakeGrandmaster
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Refutation to the Stafford Gambit "magic line"

I thought I had finally discovered a cure-all to the mainline Stafford gambit that's made waves on youtube, but as soon as I felt like I found lines where black can't possibly get enough play, the biggest Stafford exponents of this so-called "magic…
NoseKnowsAll
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Is it a good habit for an amateur to always try to play the best move (according to his best calculation and knowledge)?

Is it a good habit for an amateur to always try to play the best move (according to his best calculation), instead of sometimes purporsely play an inferior move hoping that his opponent does not know how to take advantage of it? For example, this…
Zuriel
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Straightforward refutation of the Stafford gambit

I recently found the the following line that completely neutralizes the Stafford gambit, and lets white keep the pawn with a healthier structure and a calm game ahead with plenty of winning chances. [FEN ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6…
Pablo S. Ocal
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How should I play after, or refute, the Tennison Gambit?

I played a game as Black in which I fell victim to a gambit trap and soon resigned. Stockfish labled it as the "Tennison Gambit." [FEN ""] 1. Nf3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Ng5 Nf6 4. d3 exd3 5. Bxd3 h6 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Bg6+ Kxg6 8. Qxd8 Nc6 9. Qxc7 Nd5 10.…
Rewan Demontay
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Poor gambit for white

I was white and played this against a 1589 rated player on Lichess. The gambit happens at move 10 and it is characterized as a blunder by stockfish analysis. However, black does some inaccuracies and after a couple of moves he is trapped. Black does…
Natural Number Guy
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Simplest plan to stop my queen from getting trapped

It's reasonably common for my opponents in blitz to fall into the following trap in the opening. [FEN ""] 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. f4 Ng6 5.f5 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qxe4+ 7. Qe2 Qxh1 8. Nf3 This position should be an easy win, but I find myself often…
Noah Snyder
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Does this tactic (Bxf7+ KxB, Ng5+...QxB) have a name?

I'm not sure whether this qualifies as a trap, but I sometimes do this tactic. My opponent pins my knight on f3 against my queen, but by sacrificing my bishop to f7, I can move the knight with check then use the queen to take the bishop. For…
Steve Bennett
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