Traps are useful to both sides, but in different ways. Playing them as your main strategy is a bad idea: an opponent who knows the refutation comes out better, and you are left with a spoiled position. Knowing them so you do not fall for them, on the other hand, is worth it for everyone.
So each trap below has a separate line telling you how to sidestep it. That line matters more than the variation itself.
The general rule that covers most cases: in the opening, develop your pieces and do not grab material while your king is in the centre. Nearly all twelve traps punish exactly that - greed, or an early queen sortie.
The best-known trap of all: White develops bishop and queen and threatens mate on f7, Black's weakest square, defended only by the king.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6?? 4.Qxf7#
How to avoid it: 3...g6! - a move with tempo; the queen retreats to f3, and then 4...Nf6 shuts the diagonal for good. The other reliable answer is 3...Qe7, defending f7 with the queen. There is only one mistake: blocking with the knight on f6 without noticing that it does not defend f7.
The early queen sortie is objectively bad for White: after 3...g6 the tempi are gone. The attempt is expensive, and it only works against complete beginners.
Technically not a trap but a warning: how quickly you can lose by weakening the squares around your king. Mate in two - it does not get faster.
1.f3 e5 2.g4?? Qh4#
After the f- and g-pawns move, the e1-h4 diagonal is wide open and the queen walks in with mate. The same thing happens in real openings: in the King's Gambit and in Bird's Opening the move f2-f4 weakens that same diagonal - only there White gets compensation for it.
How to avoid it: do not push the f- and g-pawns one after the other early in the game unless there is concrete compensation for it.
An eighteenth-century classic and probably the prettiest trap on the list: White gives up the queen and mates with three minor pieces.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Nxe5! Bxd1?? 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
The point is the pin: the bishop on g4 pins the knight on f3, so the knight appears unable to move. But 5.Nxe5! breaks the pin at the cost of the queen, and if Black greedily takes, mate arrives two moves later.
How to avoid it: 5...Nxe5! - just take the knight and leave the queen alone. Then 5.Nxe5 turns out to be an ordinary blunder: White must move the queen away from the g4 bishop, and there is no piece for the pawn. Winning it back with 6.Qxg4?? fails to the knight on e5. The whole line move by move - Legal's Mate.
Black pretends to have hung the e5 pawn and drops a knight on d4. If White takes, he is mated by a knight inside his own camp.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!? 4.Nxe5?? Qg5! 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#
Note 5.Nxf7 - White wins queen and rook, and it is exactly the losing move: while the knight is off touring, Black gets to the king.
How to avoid it: 4.Nxd4! exd4 5.0-0 - White simply trades on d4 and castles calmly, standing slightly better. 3...Nd4 is objectively dubious, and it is punished by the trade, not by greed.
The great blitz trap of recent years. Black gives up a pawn in the Petroff and gets a position where almost every natural white move loses.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Bg5? Nxe4! 7.Bxd8?? Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bg4#
White grabs the queen and gets mated: the bishops on f2 and g4 work together and the king is stuck on e2.
How to avoid it: do not develop the bishop to g5 and do not grab the queen. Plain 5.d3, then Be2 and short castling, removes every problem: White has an extra pawn and a normal position.
A two-move trap that catches even experienced players, because both of Black's moves look completely normal.
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qe2 Ngf6?? 6.Nd6#
The point is the quiet 5.Qe2. It looks pointless, but it pins the e7 pawn along the e-file - and the moment the knight lands on d6, the king is locked in by his own men.
How to avoid it: notice the queen on e2 and play 5...Ndf6 or 5...e6. The general rule: when you see an enemy queen opposite your king on a file, first check which of your pawns are pinned.
Black's answer to Bird's Opening. If White carries on developing «as usual», he is punished on that same weakened e1-h4 diagonal.
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nc3?? Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 6.hxg3 Bxg3#
How to avoid it: 4.Nf3! - the knight closes the diagonal at once and takes the whole idea away. This is the main move in the position, and it is the one to know.
The Fegatello Attack in the Italian: White gives up a knight to drag the black king into the middle of the board.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5?! 6.Nxf7! Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3
Counting material here is pointless: White has given a piece for two pawns, so on paper he is behind. But the black king stands on e6 in the middle of the board, castling is gone for good, and defending in practice is extremely hard.
How to avoid it: 5...Na5! - hit the bishop on c4 instead of recapturing with the knight. Black gives back the pawn but keeps a normal position and the right to castle. The whole attack, including the Traxler Counterattack - the Fried Liver Attack.
Here the punishment is for an automatic recapture. Black takes on e5 «out of habit», without noticing that his queen and king stand on the same file as White's queen.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 dxe5?? 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5
The result: White has won a pawn and Black has lost castling - the king is already on d8. And that is not all: the greedy 6...Bxd1 runs into 7.Nxf7+, forking king and rook on h8.
How to avoid it: 4...Bxf3! - trade on f3 first and only then take on e5. Move order decides everything here.
White sees a «hanging» knight on d5 and takes it, without noticing that after the queens come off Black has a bishop check.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nxd5?? Nxd5! 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8
Count the final position: Black has two knights and a bishop against White's knight and bishop, and White has an extra pawn. So Black is a piece for a pawn up - the game is effectively decided.
How to avoid it:the knight on d5 is defended not by a piece but by tactics - the in-between check ...Bb4+. Before taking a «free» piece, always check whether your opponent has a check or a pin in reply.
The symmetry of the Petroff is deceptive: copy White's moves literally and you lose the queen.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4? 4.Qe2 Nf6?? 5.Nc6+
4.Qe2 creates a pin along the e-file. The knight steps away from e4, the king is exposed, and 5.Nc6+ is a discovered check after which White collects the queen on d8.
How to avoid it: 3...d6! - chase the knight away first and only then take on e4. This is the main line of the Petroff, and it exists precisely because of this trap.
Not mate, but a nuisance for the rest of the game: White develops the bishop too early and loses the right to castle for good.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4? Qh4+ 4.Kf1
The queen on h4 is untouchable, the king has gone to f1, and the rook on h1 is out of play for a long time. Formally White has not lost, but such a position is hard to play.
How to avoid it: 3.Nf3! - the main move of the gambit; it controls h4 and takes the whole idea away from Black.
Scholar's mate: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 with the threat of Qxf7#. It catches almost everyone who is still learning, and it is answered by 3...g6. In adult blitz the most frequent one is the Stafford in the Petroff.
As your main approach, no. A trap only works against an unprepared opponent, and someone who knows the refutation comes out better: almost every trap move is objectively worse than a normal one. Knowing traps is mainly useful so that you do not fall for them yourself.
Three habits cover nearly every case: develop your pieces and castle, do not grab material while your king is in the centre, and before every capture check whether your opponent has a check, a pin or a discovered attack in reply. Most traps punish exactly that kind of greed.
A queen sacrifice in the Italian: 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#. White gives up the queen to break the pin on the f3 knight and mates with three minor pieces. The refutation is simple - play 5...Nxe5 instead of 5...Bxd1.
The Fegatello Attack in the Italian: after 5...Nxd5 White plays 6.Nxf7 and drags the black king out to e6. On material White is a piece for two pawns down, but the opponent's king is stuck in the centre without castling and defending is very hard in practice. Black's correct answer is 5...Na5.
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Individual traps - Legal's Mate and the Fried Liver Attack. Tactics - the basic motifs and named checkmates.
At the board since childhood: hazy about his rating, precise about every rook he has blundered. Counts an evening as a good one if the opponent stayed to talk afterwards instead of rushing off to check with an engine. Message →
