Legal's Mate

The oldest trap worth knowing: Nxe5! offers the queen, and ...Bxd1?? is mated by Bxf7+ Ke7 Nd5#. It comes up most after 4...Nc6 5.h3 Bh5? and 4...h6. When Black sidesteps the mate White has usually still won a pawn; against 4...Nf6 or 4...c6 the trick does not work and White plays quietly.

• Learn–Easy Memory: drill the points where your lines split.
• Practice–Play whole lines against an opponent that follows your book.
• DrillAll courses–Spaced review of every course's due moves.
• Time–Your prompts against a 60-second clock.
• PuzzlesAll coursesReal games from your positions: find the missed move.
• Arena–Rated games from this opening. Leaving prep costs rating.