[blind-chess] Chess Article #59: Chess Traps, Part 2
- From: Roderick Macdonald <rmacd@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Blind Chess Mailing List <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:40:24 -1000 (HST)
Chess Article #59:
Chess traps
Part Two of Three Parts
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
++5. Budapest Gambit, Kieninger Trap
Moves:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5!? 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ Nbd2
Qe7 7. a3 Ngxe5!
Position after 7. ... Ngxe5!
The Kieninger Trap is a chess opening trap in the Budapest Gambit
named after the German International Master Georg Kieninger, who
used it in an offhand game against Godai at Vienna in 1925. It is
one of the most frequently seen opening traps.
The main line of the Budapest Gambit begins with the moves
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e5!?
3. dxe5 Ng4
Black has sacrificed a pawn to disorganize White's position. In the
next few moves, Black tries to regain the gambit pawn, while White
tries to hold onto it, at least for the time being:
4. Bf4 Nc6
5. Nf3 Bb4+
Black wants to continue the attack on e5 with ... Qe7, but first
develops the bishop rather than blocking it in. Now 6. Nc3 Qe7 7.
Qd5!?, holding onto the pawn, is playable, but White prefers to
avoid doubled pawns.
6. Nbd2 Qe7
Now Black regains the pawn by force, so White tries to obtain the
advantage of the bishop pair:
7. a3 Ngxe5!
Simply 7. ... Bxd2+ was possible, but this move sets the trap. Now
White should play 8. Nxe5 Nxe5! 9. e3! Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 with a small
advantage.
8. axb4??
White, like thousands of previous players, falls into the Kieninger
Trap.
8. ... Nd3#!
White has been checkmated. Note that Black's queen pins White's e-
pawn against its king, so 9. exd3 is illegal since it would put
White's king in check. Also notice that if 8. Bxe5 Nxe5 White still
cannot play axb4 because of Nd3#.
++6. Albin Countergambit, Lasker Trap
Moves:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. e3? Bb4+ 5. Bd2 dxe3!
Position after 5. ... dxe3
The Lasker Trap is a chess opening trap in the Albin Countergambit,
named after Emanuel Lasker, although it was first noted by Serafino
Dubois (Hooper & Whyld 1996, p. 219). It is unusual in that it
features an underpromotion as early as the seventh move.
The Albin Countergambit begins with the moves
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e5
3. dxe5 d4
The Black pawn on d4 is stronger than it appears.
4. e3?
Careless. Usual and better is 4. Nf3.
4. ... Bb4+
5. Bd2 dxe3!
Now White's best option is to accept doubled pawns with 6. fxe3.
6. Bxb4??
Blundering into the Lasker Trap. In an 1899 consultation game in
Moscow, Blumenfeld, Boyarkow, and Falk playing White against Lasker
tried 6. Qa4+?, but Black wins after this move also. The game
continued 6. ... Nc6 7. Bxb4 Qh4 8. Ne2 Qxf2+ 9. Kd1 Bg4 10. Nc3
0-0-0+ 11. Bd6 cxd6 12. e6 fxe6 13. Kc1 Nf6 14. b4 d5 15. b5 Ne5
16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Qc2 Nb4 18. Nd1+ Nxc2 19. Nxf2 Rd2 White resigns.
The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (volume D) gives 6. fxe3 as the
relatively best move. Black gets a slight advantage, but White has
avoided the worst and can defend.
6. ... exf2+
Now 7. Kxf2 would lose the queen to 7. ... Qxd1, so White must play
7. Ke2.
7. Ke2 fxg1=N+!
Underpromotion is the key to the trap. Instead 7. ... fxg1=Q 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Rxg1 is OK for White. Now 8. Rxg1 Bg4+ skewers
White's queen, so the king must move again.
8. Ke1 Qh4+
If White tries 9. g3 then the fork 9. ... Qe4+ wins the rook on h1.
9. Kd2 Nc6
White is hopelessly lost. After 10. Bc3 Bg4 followed by 11. ...
0-0-0+ is crushing.
++7. Italian Game, Ligal Trap
Moves:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg4?! 5. h3 Bh5?
The Ligal Trap, Blackburne Trap, also known as Ligal Pseudo-
Sacrifice and Ligal Mate is a chess opening trap, characterized by
a queen sacrifice followed by checkmate with minor pieces if Black
accepts the sacrifice. The trap is named after Sire de Ligal
(1702-1792) who was a French player, or Joseph Henry Blackburne
(1841-1924), who was a British master and one of the world's
strongest players in the latter part of the 19th century.
++7.A Natural move sequence
After 5. ... Bh5?
There are a number of ways the trap can arise, one of them being:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 d6
While 3. ... d6 is a playable answer to the Italian Game, it is
somewhat passive, and transposes to a line in the Philidor Defense.
4. Nc3 Bg4?!
Black apparently pins the knight in the fight over the center.
Strategically, this is a sound idea, but there is a tactical flaw
with the move.
5. h3
In this position 5. Nxe5? would be an unsound trap. While the white
queen still cannot be taken (5. ... Bxd1??) without succumbing to
a checkmate in two moves, 5. ... Nxe5 would win a knight (for the
pawn). Instead, with 5. h3, White "puts the question" to the bishop
which must either retreat on the c8-h3 diagonal, capture the
knight, be captured, or as in this game, move to an insecure
square.
The Ligal mate: 8. Nd5#
5. ... Bh5?
Black apparently maintains the pin, but this is a tactical blunder
which loses at least a pawn. Relatively best is 5. ... Bxf3,
surrendering the bishop pair, and giving White a comfortable lead
in development, but maintaining material equality. 5. ... Be6!? is
also possible.
6. Nxe5!
The tactical refutation. White seemingly ignores the pin, and
surrenders the queen. Black's best course now is to play 6. ...
Nxe5, where with 7. Qxh5 Nxc4 8. Qb5+ followed by 9. Qxc4, White
remains a pawn ahead in material, but Black can at least play on.
Instead, if Black takes the queen, White has checkmate in two
moves:
6. ... Bxd1??
7. Bxf7+ Ke7
8. Nd5#
mate.
The final position is a pure mate, meaning that for each of the
eight squares around the black king, there is exactly one reason
the king cannot move there.
++7.B Minimum requirements
In general, any game having a knight on e5 and ending with the
moves Bxf7+ Ke7 Nd5# would be called a Ligal Mate. Making a "trap"
by luring a bishop on g4 or h5 into a queen capture on d1 is not
strictly necessary. In order for the last move to be checkmate, it
is of course necessary that black have pieces on squares d6, d8,
and f8, and that black have no pieces attacking the square d5.
++7.C Original game
The game Ligal (playing at rook odds, without Ra1) against Saint
Brie in Paris 1750, went as follows:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
3. Bc4 Bg4?!
4. Nc3 g6
5. Nxe5 Bxd1?
6. Bxf7+ Ke7
7. Nd5#
++7.D Cheron-Jeanlose
At a simultaneous exhibition in Paris, Andre Cheron, one of
France's leading players, played a similar trap in the game Cheron-
Jeanlose.
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
3. Bc4 Nc6
4. Nc3 Bg4?!
5. h3! Bh5?
6. Nxe5!
If 6. ... Nxe5 7. Qxh5 Nxc4 8. Qb5+ wins the knight.
6. ... Bxd1??
7. Bxf7+ Ke7
8. Nd5#
++7.E Other variations
Sometimes the mate can be administered by a different piece. This
game came from the Petrov's Defense; and is very old:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. Nxe5 Nc6?!
4. Nxc6 dxc6
5. d3 Bc5
6. Bg5? Nxe4!?
(if White responds with 7. dxe4 he will win a pawn for a knight.
Instead he carries out the pin.)
7. Bxd8?? Bxf2+
8. Ke2 Bg4#
++7.F Occurrence
This kind of mate, where an apparently pinned knight moves anyway,
allowing capture of the queen, but leading to a checkmate with both
knights and a bishop, occasionally occurs at lower levels of play,
though masters would not normally fall for it. According to Bjerke
(Spillet i mitt liv), the Ligal Trap has ensnared countless unwary
players. One author writes that "Blackburne sprang it several
hundreds of times during his annual tours."
++8. Sicilian Defense, Magnus Smith Trap
Moves:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4
g6?!
The Magnus Smith Trap is a chess opening trap in the Sicilian
Defense, named after three-time Canadian chess champion Magnus
Smith (1869-1934).
The trap occurs in the Sozin Variation, beginning with the moves
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 Nc6
6. Bc4
This is the Sozin (or Fischer) Variation of the Sicilian Defense.
A common response is 6. ... e6, to make White's bishop on c4 "bite
on granite". By playing 6. ... g6?!, Black falls into the trap.
6. ... g6?!
7. Nxc6 bxc6
8. e5!
Black is in a bad way. After 8. ... Nh5?, Bobby Fischer gives 9.
Qf3! e6 (9. ... d5 10. Nxd5!) 10. g4 Ng7 11. Ne4 Qa5+ (11. ... d5
12. Nf6+ Ke7 13. Qa3+) 12. Bd2 Qxe5 13. Bc3 and Black's queen is
trapped. Preferable alternatives are 8. ... Ng4 9. e6 f5, and Black
eventually managed to draw in Schlechter-Lasker, World Championship
(7) 1910 and 8. ... d5 9. exf6 dxc4 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. Bg5 Be6 12.
0-0-0+ Ke8, and Black ultimately even won in Rosen-Burn, Paris
1900.
The move Black actually chooses leads to instant disaster.
8. ... dxe5??
9. Bxf7+
White wins Black's queen after
9. ... Kxf7
10. Qxd8
++9. Petrov's Defense, Marshall Trap
Moves:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6
7. 0-0 0-0 8. c4 Bg4 9. cxd5 f5 10. Re1?
The Marshall Trap is a chess opening trap in Petrov's Defense named
after Frank Marshall.
The trap begins with the moves
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6
Black plays Petrov's Defense.
3. Nxe5 d6
4. Nf3 Nxe4
5. d4 d5
6. Bd3 Bd6
7. 0-0 0-0
8. c4 Bg4
9. cxd5 f5
10. Re1?
White should play 10. Nc3 instead.
10. ... Bxh2+!
An unexpected blow.
11. Kxh2 Nxf2
Black forks the white queen and bishop, forcing the queen to move.
12. Qe2 Nxd3
13. Qxd3 Bxf3
Black threatens ... Qh4+ forking the white king and rook, winning
material.
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