Category Chess Traps

The Noah’s Ark Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez. It is all about trapping White’s light squared bishop after a series of forcing moves. The origin of the name is uncertain. The shape of the black…

The Rubinstein Trap is a chess opening trap in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense. This subtle trap at the very least wins an important central pawn, but also can trap the black queen if Black is greedy. Rubinstein trap…

The Siberian Trap derives from the Smith-Morra Gambit in the Sicilian Defense. White will offer up a pawn sacrifice in the Smith-Morra Gambit in exchange for rapid development. His pieces will be developed to great squares but black will be…

This sneaky trap comes out of the Budapest Gambit opening. The Budapest Gambit is a popular opening among both amateurs and top players because it contains a variety of traps. At the early 1920s, German chess players Sammi Fajarowicz and…

The Cambridge Springs trap is a famous trap seen in the Queen’s Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Variation. The first recorded use of the Cambridge Springs was by Emanuel Lasker in 1892. The name derives from a 1904 tournament in Cambridge…

The Englund Gambit is an unusual Queen’s Pawn Opening, which begins with the moves 1. d4 e5. This trap has several neat tactical ideas and ends in Black checkmating White despite not that many pieces being exchanged. The Swedish player…

The Lasker Trap is a chess opening trap in the Albin Countergambit, named after the second World Champion Emanuel Lasker. Black plays the Albin-countergambit to face White’s queen’s gambit. The unusual though very powerful feature of Lasker Trap is the…

The Fishing Pole Trap is one of the easiest traps for white to fall for. This trap is associated with the Ruy Lopez but it can be used against many openings when the position allows. The idea is to open…

The Blackburne Shilling Trap , also known as Blackburne Shilling Gambit is one of the more famous chess traps. It is derived from an offshoot of the Italian Game. Wilhelm Steinitz made the first known mention of this line, noting…

The Légal Trap (also known as Légal Pseudo-Sacrifice and Légal Mate) is named after the French player Sire de Légal (1702–1792). It is an attacking trap with which a player sacrifices the queen then followed by a checkmate with minor…