[blind-chess] Chess Article #58: Chess Traps, Part 1
- From: Roderick Macdonald <rmacd@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Blind Chess Mailing List <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:53:18 -1000 (HST)
Chess Article #58:
Chess traps
Part One of Three Parts
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
A Trap is a way of surreptitiously luring a chess opponent into
making a mistake or a move whose natural reply results in a
disadvantage to the replying player.
In this brief introduction to some of the best-known traps, we will
look at:
* Checkmates in the opening
* Blackburne Shilling Gambit in the Italian Game
* Elephant Trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined
* Halosar Trap in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
* Kieninger Trap in the Budapest Gambit
* Lasker Trap in the Albin Counter-Gambit
* Ligal Trap in the Philidor Defense
* Magnus Smith Trap in the Sicilian Defense
* Marshall Trap in the Petrov's Defense
* Monticelli Trap in the Bogo-Indian Defense
* Mortimer Trap in the Ruy Lopez
* Noah's Ark Trap in the Ruy Lopez
* Rubinstein Trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined
* Siberian Trap in the Sicilian Defense
* Tarrasch Trap in the Ruy Lopez
* W`urzburger Trap in the Vienna Gambit
++1. Checkmates in the opening
In chess, checkmates in the opening are examples of a player being
checkmated during the first few moves of the game (i.e. in the
opening). Some common or notable mating patterns have names of
their own. These include fool's mate, Scholar's mate, smothered
mate, the back rank checkmate, Boden's mate, epaulette mate, and
Ligal's mate.
Some opening traps involve an early checkmate. These include:
* Benoni Defense 1. d4 c5 2. d5 e6 3. Nc3 exd5?! 4. Nxd5 Ne7 5.
Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Qa5+ 7. c3 Nf5?? 8. Qa4!! Qxa4 9. Nc7# 1-0
Yermolinsky-Tate, Reno 2001
* Blackburne Shilling Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4?! 4.
Nxe5!? Qg5! 5. Nxf7?? Qxg2 6. Rf1 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Nf3#
* Budapest Gambit: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5.
Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. a3 Ngxe5! 8. axb4?? Nd3#
* Budapest Gambit: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. d5?! Bc5 4. Bg5? Ne4!
5. Bxd8?? Bxf2# Arnold-Hanauer, Philadelphia 1936
* Caro-Kann Defense: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7
5. Qe2 Ngf6?? 6. Nd6# Alekhine-Four Amateurs, simultaneous
exhibition, Palma de Mallorca 1935
* Caro-Kann Defense: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7
5. Bc4 Ngf6 6. Ng5 e6 7. Qe2 Nb6 8. Bd3 h6 9. N5f3 c5 10. dxc5
Nbd7!? 11. b4 b6 12. Nd4! bxc5?? 13. Nc6! Qc7 14. Qxe6+! (1-0
Perenyi-Eperjesi, Budapest 1974) fxe6 15. Bg6#
* Caro-Kann Defense: 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4
Bf5?! 5. Ng3 Bg6? 6. h4 h6 7. Ne5 Bh7 8. Qh5! g6 9. Bc4! e6
10. Qe2 Nf6?? 11. Nxf7! Kxf7 12. Qxe6+ (1-0 Alekhine-Bruce,
Plymouth 1938) Kg7 13. Qf7#
* Caro-Kann Defense: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6
5. Qd3!? e5?! 6. dxe5 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qxe5 8. 0-0-0! Nxe4?? 9.
Qd8+!! Kxd8 10. Bg5+ (R`eti-Tartakower, Vienna 1910) 10. ...
Ke8 11. Rd8# or 10. ... Kc7 11. Bd8#
* Dutch Defense: 1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bh4 g5 4. Bg3 f4? 5. e3
h5 (5. ... fxg3?? 6. Qh5#) 6. Bd3!? Rh6?? 7. Qxh5+! Rxh5 8.
Bg6# Teed-Delmar, New York 1896
* Dutch Defense: 1. d4 f5 2. h3 Nf6 3. g4 fxg4 4. hxg4 Nxg4 5.
Qd3 Nf6?? 6. Rxh7! Rxh7 7. Qg6#
* Englund Gambit 1. d4 e5?! 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. Bf4 Qb4+
5. Bd2 Qxb2 6. Bc3?? Bb4 7. Qd2 Bxc3 8. Qxc3 Qc1#
* French Defense (R`eti Gambit) 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 dxe4 4.
Nc3 Nf6 5. Qe2 Bb4 6. 0-0-0 Qe7 7. Nxe4 Ba3 8. Nxf6+ Qxf6 9.
Bxa3?? Qa1#
* Bird's Opening: From Gambit: 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6
4. Nf3 (4. b3?? Qh4+ 5. g3 Qxg3+ 6. hxg3 Bxg3# Pantelidakis-
Rhine, Chicago 1974) g5 5. h3?? Bg3# Napetschnig-Rhine,
Chicago 1977
* Gr`unfeld Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5.
e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nc6 10. Be3
Qa5+!? 11. Bd2 Qa3 12. Rb1 0-0 13. d5? Ne5 14. Bb4? Qf3!! 15.
gxf3?? Nxf3+ 16. Kf1 Bh3#
* Marshall Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6?! 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6?
5. e4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bg4 7. d5 Ne5? 8. Nxe5! Bxd1 9. Bb5+ c6 10.
dxc6 Qc7?? 11. cxb7+ Kd8 (after 11. ... Qd7 and 11. ... Nd7,
White mates, or forces mate, with 12. bxa8(Q) or bxa8(R)) 12.
Nxf7#
* Nimzowitsch Defense 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 Bg4
5. Nc3 Bxf3 6. Nxd5 Bxd1 7. Nxc7+ Kd8 8. Nxa8 Bxc2 9. Bf4 Nxd4
10. Nc7? e5! 11. Bxe5?? Bb4#. Also possible is 7. ... Kd7 8.
Nxa8 Bxc2 9. Bf4 e5 10. dxe5 Bb4+ 11. Ke2 Nge7 12. e6+ fxe6
13. Nc7?? Nd4+ 14. Ke3 Nef5# Kiss-Barcza, Debrecen 1930.
* Owen's Defense 1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 f5?! 4. exf5! Bxg2 5.
Qh5+ g6 6. fxg6! Nf6?? 7. gxh7+! Nxh5 8. Bg6# Greco-N.N., Rome
1619.
* Petrov's Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6?! 4. Nxc6
dxc6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Bg5? Nxe4! 7. Bxd8?? Bxf2+ 8. Ke2 Bg4#
* Philidor Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4?! 4. Nc3 g6? 5.
Nxe5! Bxd1?? 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5# Ligal-Saint Brie, Paris
1750. This mating pattern is now called Ligal's mate.
* Richter-Veresov Attack 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 c5!? 4. Bxf6
exf6!? 5. dxc5 d4 6. Ne4 Bf5 7. Ng3? Bxc5! 8. Nxf5? Qa5+! 9.
c3 dxc3 10. b4 Bxb4 11. Qc2 Qxf5! 12. Qxf5?? c2# N.N.-Rhine,
Chicago 1977.
* Modern Defense (Robatsch Defense): 1. e4 g6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4
Nd7?? 4. Bxf7+! Kxf7 5. Ng5+ Kf6 (otherwise 6. Ne6 wins the
queen) 6. Qf3+ Kxg5 (6. ... Ke5 7. Qc3+ Kf4 8. Qg3#) 7. d4+
Kh4 8. Qh3#
* Ruy Lopez: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0
Nxe4 6. d4 exd4?! 7. Re1 d5 8. Nxd4 Bd6 9. Nxc6 Bxh2+! 10.
Kh1! Qh4 11. Rxe4+! dxe4 12. Qd8+! Qxd8 13. Nxd8+ Kxd8 14.
Kxh2 f5?? 15. Bg5#
* Ruy Lopez: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. 0-0
Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. d3 Qf6 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Nbd2 Ng6 10. hxg4? hxg4
11. Ng5 Nf4 12. Qxg4 Qxg5! (0-1 Hans B`ohm-Roman Hernandez,
Amsterdam 1979) 13. Qxg5 Ne2#
* Ruy Lopez: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 d6 5. d4
Nxe4? 6. d5 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. dxc6 e4 9. Re1 d5 10. Be2! exf3??
(Black had to play 10. ... bxc6) 11. cxb7 Bxb7 (if 11. ...
fxe2, 12. bxa8(Q)) 12. Bb5# Nimzowitsch-Ryckhoff, simultaneous
exhibition, P`arnu 1910.
* Scandinavian Defense 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 c6
5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Bf4 e6 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Bb4 9. Be2 Nd7 10. a3
0-0-0?? 11. axb4!! Qxa1+ 12. Kd2! Qxh1 13. Qxc6+! bxc6 14.
Ba6# Canal-N.N., Budapest 1934 (the "Peruvian Immortal": White
sacrifices both rooks and his queen to finish with Boden's
mate)
* Sicilian Defense: 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6
5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 Qc7 7. 0-0 Nf6 8. Qe2 Ng4! 9. h3?? Nd4!
(winning White's queen, at least) 10. Nxd4? Qh2# (the Siberian
Trap)
* Sicilian Defense: 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5.
Nf3?! Bg4 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Nb5? 0-0-0! 9. Nxa7+??
Nxa7 10. Qxa7 Qd1+!! (0-1 Dutch-Sugden, London 1964) 11. Kxd1
Bg4+ 12. Kc2 Bd1# or 12. Ke1 Rd1# (an ending strikingly
similar to R`eti-Tartakower, Vienna 1910, cited under Caro-
Kann Defense, above)
* Sicilian Defense: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 e6 5.
Nxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd5 Qb6 9. Bc4 Bxf2+ 10.
Ke2 0-0 11. Rf1 Bc5 12. Ng5 Nd4+ 13. Kd1 Ne6 14. Ne4 d6 15.
exd6 Bxd6?? 16. Nxd6 Rd8 17. Bf4! Nxf4? 18. Qxf7+ Kh8 19.
Qg8+! (1-0 Unzicker-Sarapu, Siegen Olympiad 1970) Rxg8 20.
Nf7#
* Sicilian Defense: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.
Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. Qe2 Nfd7
11. 0-0-0 Bb7 12. Qg4 Qxe5 13. Bd3 Nf6? 14. Bxf6 Qxf6? 15.
Rhe1 h5 16. Nxe6! Be7 (16. ... hxg4 17. Bxb5+! Ke7 (17. ...
axb5? 18. Nc7# or 18. Nxg7#) 18. Nxf8+ Kxf8? 19. Re8#) 17.
Bxb5+! axb5 18. Nc7+! Kf8 19. Rd8+! Bxd8 20. Re8# Tal-N.N.,
England 1974.
* Three Knights Game 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5.
Nd5 Bg7 6. Bg5 Nge7? 7. Nxd4! Bxd4?? 8. Qxd4! Nxd4 9. Nf6+ Kf8
10. Bh6#
* Two Knights Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5
5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke8? 8. Bxd5 Bd7?? (or
several other moves) 9. Qf7#
* Vienna Game 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Bxf7+ (4. Nxe4
d5) Kxf7 5. Nxe4 Nc6 6. Qf3+ Kg8?? 7. Ng5! Qxg5 8. Qd5#
++2. Italian Game, Blackburne Shilling Gambit
Moves:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4
ECO:
C50
Origin:
Wilhelm Steinitz, The Modern Chess Instructor, Part II, 1895.
Named after Legend on Blackburne (see text)
Synonym(s):
Kostic Gambit
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is the name facetiously given to a
dubious chess opening, derived from an offshoot of the Italian
Game, that begins
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nd4?!
It is also sometimes referred to as the Kostic Gambit after the
Serbian grandmaster Borislav Kostic, who played it in the early
20th century.
The first known mention of this line was by Steinitz, who noted it
in 1895 in the Addenda to his Modern Chess Instructor, Part II. The
earliest game with the opening on chessgames.com is Dunlop-Hicks,
New Zealand Championship 1911. Another early game, mentioned by
Bill Wall, is Muhlock-Kostic, Cologne 1912.
Black's third move is, objectively speaking, a weak, time-wasting
move. Steinitz recommended 4. 0-0 or 4. Nxd4 in response.
International Master Jeremy Silman writes that White has an
advantage after 4. 0-0, 4. c3, or 4. Nc3. He recommends as best 4.
Nxd4! exd4 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Qe7+ 7. Kf1 with a slight advantage for
White. 5. ... Bc5? loses a pawn to 6. Bxf7+! Kxf7 7. Qh5+.
The only virtue of 3. ... Nd4 is that it sets a trap that has
ensnared many players. After the natural
4. Nxe5!?
Black wins material with
4. ... Qg5!
Now the obvious
5. Nxf7??
loses to
5. ... Qxg2
6. Rf1 Qxe4+
7. Be2 Nf3#
... a smothered mate. This trap is what gives the line its name;
the great English master Joseph Henry Blackburne reputedly used it
to win shillings from amateurs. However, Wall has questioned this,
stating that there are no recorded games of Blackburne with the
opening.
The opening is not a true gambit, since White cannot take the pawn
on e5 without losing material. However, after 4. Nxe5 Qg5, White
can maintain a playable game with 5. Bxf7+! Steinitz wrote that
this move, "followed by castling, is now White's best chance and in
some measure a promising one, considering that he has two Pawns and
the attack for the piece". After
4. Nxe5 Qg5
5. Bxf7+ Ke7?
(5. ... Kd8!? 6. 0-0 (6. Ng4? Nh6! -+) +/=)
6. 0-0 Qxe5
7. Bxg8
(7. Bc4 is also possible)
7. ... Rxg8
8. c3 Nc6
(8. ... Ne6 9. d4! Qxe4? 10. d5 Nf4?? 11. Re1 pins Black's queen
against his king and wins; Silman analyzes 9. ... Qf6 10. f4 when
"with two pawns and an attack for the sacrificed piece, White's
compensation isn't in doubt".
9. d4
White's two extra pawns, strong center, and lead in development,
combined with Black's awkwardly placed king, give White strong
compensation for the sacrificed knight.
G. Chandler-NN, Stockbridge 1983, concluded that
9. ... Qa5?
(9. ... Qf6 10. e5 Qf7 may be best)
10. d5 Ne5?
11. Qh5! Nf7?
(11. ... d6 12. Bg5+ Kd7 13. Qxh7 also wins for White)
12. d6+!
1-0
(in light of 13. Qxa5.)
Graham Burgess writes that 3. ... Nd4 is also known as the "Oh my
god!" trap, as for full effect, Black is supposed to make this
exclamation, pretending to have accidentally blundered the e-pawn.
Burgess condemns this behavior as unethical, and notes that the
trap, if avoided, leaves White with a large advantage.
++3. Queen's Gambit Declined, Elephant Trap
Moves:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7
In chess, the Elephant Trap is a faulty attempt by White to win a
pawn in a popular variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. This
simple trap has snared thousands of players, generally amateurs.
The earliest recorded occurrence of this trap seems to be Karl
Mayet-Daniel Harrwitz, Berlin 1848.
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Bg5 Nbd7
This sequence of opening moves usually indicates that Black intends
to play the Cambridge Springs Defense with 5. Nf3 c6 6. e3 Qa5, but
it can also lead to the Orthodox Defense if Black plays ... Be7.
(The Cambridge Springs opening had not yet been invented in 1848
when Mayet-Harrwitz was played.)
Black has set a trap; if White tries to win a pawn by
5. cxd5 exd5
6. Nxd5??
White thinks that the black knight on f6 is pinned to the queen and
cannot be moved.
6. ... Nxd5!
7. Bxd8 Bb4+
Black regains the queen as White has only one legal move to get out
of check.
8. Qd2 Bxd2+
Harrwitz played the equally good 8. ... Kxd8, intending 9. ...
Bxd2+.
9. Kxd2 Kxd8
Black comes out a minor piece ahead.
++4. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Halosar Trap
Moves:
1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Qxf3 Qxd4 6. Be3
Qb4?! 7. 0-0-0 Bg4?
The Halosar Trap (named after Hermann Halosar) is a chess opening
trap in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit.
The trap begins with the moves
1. d4 d5
2. e4
This is the start of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit.
2. ... dxe4
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. f3 exf3
Now 5. Nxf3 is usual, but by capturing with the queen, White lays
a trap. (This is the Ryder Gambit.)
5. Qxf3 Qxd4
6. Be3 Qb4?!
Better is 6. ... Qg4. Black thinks that castling is prevented
because of ... Bg4, but White castles anyway.
7. 0-0-0 Bg4?
Blundering into the trap.
8. Nb5!!
White threatens mate with 9. Nxc7#. The Black queen can't capture
the knight because 8. ... Qxb5 9. Bxb5+ is check and loses the
queen.
8. ... Na6
9. Qxb7 Qe4
Black lost even more quickly in Diemer-Halosar, Baden-Baden 1934,
after 9. ... Rc8 10. Qxa6 1-0.
10. Qxa6 Qxe3+
Worse is 10. ... Bxd1 11. Kxd1 Rd8+ 12. Bd2 and White is winning,
for example 12. ... Ng4 13. Nxc7+ Kd7 14. Qxa7.
11. Kb1 Qc5
12. Nf3
The White threat of 13. Qb7 wins the black a-pawn by force. With
even material and a passed a-pawn, White will have a winning
advantage (Burgess). Even stronger seems 12. Qb7! with the idea 12.
... Bxd1 13. Qxa8+ Kd7 14. Nc3 and White has a winning attack.
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