Chess traps

Short, sharp ways games end early, and how not to fall into them.

A cartoon: a startled white knight rears back from a black pawn that has opened a mouth full of teeth, under a sign reading Chess Trap.

A trap is a move that looks like a gift. Your opponent takes what is offered, and two or three moves later the game is over. The best defence is knowing the common ones by sight — so here are the ones worth recognising.

Let’s start with some easy ones.

Four traps to know

Play through each one with the arrows or the buttons. Nothing here needs memorising: what matters is that the shape looks familiar the next time somebody plays it against you.

Trap 1 — Bishop’s Opening 
1. e4  e5  2. Bc4  Bc5  3. Qh5  g6  4. Qxe5+  Qe7  5. Qxh8
Black defends the e5 pawn with the queen and loses the rook in the corner instead.
Trap 2 — Bishop’s Opening, Classical Variation 
1. e4  e5  2. Bc4  Bc5  3. Qh5  Nf6  4. Qxf7#
The same opening, and this time developing the knight to f6 walks into mate on f7.
Trap 3 — Queen’s Pawn Game 
1. d4  Nf6  2. Nd2  e5  3. dxe5  Ng4  4. h3  Ne3  5. fxe3  Qh4+
          6. g3  Qxg3#
Taking the knight on e3 opens the g-file, and the queen arrives with mate.
Trap 4 — Damiano’s Defence 
1. e4  e5  2. Nf3  f6  3. Nxe5  fxe5  4. Qh5+  Ke7  5. Qxe5+  Kf7
          6. Bc4+  d5  7. Bxd5+  Kg6  8. h4  Bd6  9. h5+  Kh6  10. d4+  g5
          11. hxg6+  Kxg6  12. Qh5+  Kf6  13. Qf7#
Defending the e5 pawn with f6 is the mistake. The king is marched up the board and mated on move 13.

Capitalising on Black’s greed for the ‘free’ queen, the combination of those tricky knights and the bishop is difficult to see. Wave the skull and crossbones flag and board the enemy ship.

A black pirate flag with a white skull and crossbones, flying from a wooden pole.
The Legal Trap 1–0 
1. e4  e5  2. Nf3  Nc6  3. Bc4
              so far, standard moves, nothing to worry about
          3… d6  4. Nc3  Bg4
              White has developed Knights and a Bishop, Black pins the Knight
          5. h3  Bh5
              Black maintains the pin, but white decides to ignore it
          6. Nxe5
              Oh NO, MY QUEEN!
          6… Bxd1
              Black says - Thanks very much
          7. Bxf7+
              Nice move, King has to move to e7
          7… Ke7  8. Nd5#
              A nice mate with Knights and Bishop, who needs a Queen anyway
          1–0
White gives up the queen on purpose. Two knights and a bishop finish the game.

Fool’s Mate

A cartoon pirate in a tricorn hat looking thoroughly glum.

Mate in two moves. Don’t be a fool and get sunk on the rocks.

Fool’s Mate 0–1 
1. g4  e5  2. f3  Qh4#
          0–1
The shortest possible game. Two careless pawn moves and the queen arrives on h4.
A cartoon pirate ship with red sails, run aground and breaking up on rocks in the surf.

Scholar’s Mate

Beth Harmon fell for this in her first game of chess, sunk without trace.

Scholar’s Mate 1–0 
1. e4  e5  2. Qh5  Nc6  3. Bc4  Nf6  4. Qxf7#
          1–0
The four-move mate every beginner meets, from both sides, sooner or later.
Scholar’s Mate, the four-move finish.
A cartoon pirate ship resting on the seabed among weed and starfish, its sails in tatters.

There is a whole page on one more of these — the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, where it is Black setting the trap for once.