Traps in Sound Position

[Black "Cambridge Springs Trap"]{
This trap has many variations but the idea is always the
same. It's the loose Bishop on g5 that falls.}


1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd3 Qa5 8.Qc2 Ne4 9.Bxe4 dxe4 10.Nd2 Qxg5

[Black "Alekhine's Defense"]
1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Nge2 Nc6
5.g3 Bg4 6.Bg2 Nd4 7.Bxd5 Qxd5
(if 7. Nxd5 then,7.... Nf3+ Kf1 Bh3#)
8.f3 Qxf3
9.Rf1 Qg2 0-1

[Black "Queens Gambit Declined"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.e3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 6.Bxb4 exf2 7.Ke2 fxg1=N+ 8.Ke1 Qh4+ 9.Kd2 Nc6 10.Bc3 Bg4 0-1

{The Elephant Trap!!! (QUEENS GAMBIT DECLINED)
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 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 can't be moved. But}

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 is a piece ahead.}

[Black "(Vienna Game)"]
{
A NICE LITTLE TRAP IN THE (chess) OPENING.
*************************************************************}

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3
{The Vienna Opening ...}

2...Bc5!?
{Generally it is accepted theory that N-KB3 is the best move for Black in this position.

Lasker said that you should develop your Knights BEFORE the Bishops ...
this game is a good example of why.

But I don't think a logical move like ...Bc5; is completely unsound. ( Better is: >/= 2...Nf6) }

3.f4!? {(hmmm)}
{An extremely dangerous move, should White really push this Pawn
with the Bishop already sitting on the c5-square?

( One books says that the ONLY correct move here for White is: >/= 3.Nf3!, ("+/=") and the first player should come out of the opening with a very solid advantage.}

3...Nf6 4.Nf3 Ng4?!
{The computer likes this move ...yet I must condemn the terrible loss of time such a greedy foray entails.(Maybe just - '?')

( After the following simple and logical moves: >/= 4...d6; ('!') 5.Bc4, "~" we have transposed into another standard line from ... the "King's Gambit Declined."}

5.Bc4!? {(Huh?!?!?)
A wildly radical gambit ... whether or not this is sound is anyone's guess.

( Fritz prefers the following - much more safe and sane - continuation here: >/= 5.d4! exd4; 6.Nxd4, "~" Dg? with maybe a slight edge for White in this position.}

5...Nf2 6.Qe2! Nxh1
{Black wins an exchange ... but loses a tremendous amount of time here!!}

7.fxe5! Nf2!?
{Seemingly a logical move ... Black attempts to rescue the Knight from the corner.
(And if cannot save the Knight ... perhaps he will get at least one more pawn for it?)

( The move of: 7...Bf2+!?, D? was worth a look here. )}

8.d4 Nxe4!? 9.Nxe4 Bb4+!?
{Seemingly a logical move ...

( Or if >/= 9...Be7; then 10.Nfg5!, D? and the machine clearly shows that White
has a winning attack. )}

10.c3 Ba5
{Black thought for nearly half of the allotted time for this one move.
(It is incorrect. It also no longer matters, as White has a winning
initiative from this position.)}

11.b4!? Bb6 12.Bg5!
{White's position is now so strong, that almost anything wins.
But this is the best, and says <<hello>> to the Black Queen!}

{( Also winning is: 12.a4!?; or even 12.Nfg5, ('!') is decisive in this position. )}

12...f6!? 13.exf6 gxf6?

{Better was to play ...Kf8; or even to RESIGN!

( Black had to play: >/= 13...Kf8[]; 14.fxg7+ Kxg7; 15.Bxd8, ("+/-") if the second player really insists on continuing!!! )}

14.Nxf6+ Kf8 15.Bh6#.

[Black "The Rubinstein Trap (Queens Gambit Declined)"]
{The Rubinstein Trap is a chess opening trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense. Black loses a pawn after the characteristic move Nxd5 due to the threat of having his queen trapped on the back rank. The queen is attacked by a white bishop while being hemmed in by its own pieces.

The trap takes its name from Akiba Rubinstein who had the misfortune of falling into it twice in the games Max Euwe–Rubinstein, Bad Kissingen 1928, and Alexander Alekhine–Rubinstein, San Remo 1930. Rubinstein was not the first to fall victim to the trap, as the first recorded game featuring the trap is Amos Burn–Heinrich Wolf, Ostend 1905.

Euwe – Rubinstein, 1928, began}

1. Nf3 d5
2. c4 e6
3. d4 Nf6
{Transposing into the Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense.}

4. Bg5 Nbd7
5. e3 Be7
6. Nc3 0-0
7. Rc1 c6
8. Bd3 a6
9. cxd5 exd5
10. 0-0 Re8
11. Qb3 h6
12. Bf4 Nh5?
{Black falls into the trap.}

13. Nxd5
{Now Black will lose a pawn after} 13...Nxf4 14.Nxf4 {or more after 13...cxd5 14.Bc7 when the black queen is trapped on the back rank by her own pieces.}

[Black "The Noah's Ark Trap (Ruy Lopez)"]{
The Noah's Ark Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez. The name is actually used to describe a family of traps in the Ruy Lopez in which a white bishop is trapped on the b3-square by black pawns.

The origin of the name is uncertain. The shape of the black pawns on a6, b5, and c4 may resemble an ark, or the name may suggest that the trap is "old as Noah's Ark".

Here's an example of the trap from a tournament game:}

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6
4. Ba4 d6
5. d4(?)
{Better moves for White are 5.c3, 5.Bxc6+, and 5.0-0.}

5. ... b5
6. Bb3 Nxd4
7. Nxd4 exd4
8. Qxd4??
{Alexander Alekhine recommended this move in the tournament book for New York 1924 as a means for White to draw, but it is a mistake that loses material. Endre Steiner fell into this trap against José Capablanca at the Budapest tournament in 1929. White should instead play 8.Bd5 or try a gambit with 8.c3.}

8. ... c5
9. Qd5 Be6
10. Qc6+ Bd7
11. Qd5 c4

[Black "The Mortimer Trap (Ruy Lopez)"]{
The Mortimer Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez named after James Mortimer. The Mortimer Trap is a true trap in the sense that Black deliberately plays an inferior move hoping to trick White into making a mistake.

The trap begins with the moves}

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Nf6
{Black plays the Berlin Defense to the Ruy Lopez.}

4. d3
{This is an unusual response for White to the Berlin Defense, but it isn't a bad move.}

4. ... Ne7
{The Mortimer Defense. This rare move isn't objectively the best for Black, but it sets a trap. White has many acceptable replies, but the tempting capture of the black pawn on e5 is a mistake.}

5. Nxe5? c6!
{Attacking the white bishop and threatening 6...Qa5+. If the bishop moves (6.Ba4 or 6.Bc4), Black wins a piece with the fork 6...Qa5+.}

6. Nc4
{White's best move, it covers a5 preventing 6...Qa5+ and threatens smothered mate with 7.Nd6#.}

6. ... d6
7. Ba4 b5
{Black forks the white bishop and knight winning a piece}

{
Tarrasch Trap in the Open Variation (Ruy Lopez)
Two masters actually fell for this trap against Tarrasch: Zukertort at Frankfurt in 1887 and Gunsberg at Manchester in 1890.}

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6
4. Ba4 Nf6
5. 0-0 Nxe4
{This is the Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez.}

6. d4 b5
7. Bb3 d5
8. dxe5 Be6
9. c3 Be7
10. Re1 0-0
11. Nd4 Qd7?
{Falling into the trap.}

12. Nxe6
{Black's pawn on d5 will be pinned no matter how he recaptures. After 12...Qxe6 or 12...fxe6 White wins a piece with 13.Rxe4.}

[Black "Tarrasch Trap in the Steinitz Variation(Ruy Lopez)"]{
The second Tarrasch Trap occurs in the Steinitz Variation. Tarrasch published analysis of this trap in 1891, but 18 months later Marco fell into it in Tarrasch–Marco Dresden 1892. Tarrasch spent just 5 minutes of thinking for the whole game.}

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 d6
{This is the Steinitz Variation of the Ruy Lopez.}

4. d4 Bd7
{Black breaks the pin to meet the threat of 5.d5.}

5. Nc3 Nf6
6. O-O Be7
7. Re1
{Laying a subtle trap. Castling seems natural for Black, but instead 7...exd4 is better.}

7. ... O-O?
8. Bxc6 Bxc6
9. dxe5 dxe5
10. Qxd8 Raxd8
11. Nxe5
{Black's best move here is probably 11...Bd7, although White would remain a pawn ahead.}

11. ... Bxe4
12. Nxe4 Nxe4
{Now 13.Rxe4?? would be a horrible blunder as Black would checkmate with 13...Rd1+ 14. Re1 Rxe1#. White blocks that possibility with his next move, making the threat real against the black knight on e4.}

13. Nd3 f5
{The black knight can't move because of the pin against the bishop on e7.}

14. f3 Bc5+
15. Nxc5 Nxc5
16. Bg5 Rd5
17. Be7 Re8
18. c4
{White wins at least the exchange, so Marco resigned. }