Trap · played as Black

Blackburne Shilling Gambit

3...Nd4 offers the e5 pawn. 4.Nxe5 is playable for White, but the greedier 5.Nxf7?? loses on the spot to 5...Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#.

A position this opening is aiming for.

You play
Black
Variations covered
13
What it wins
Checkmate

The main line

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#

How the trap springs

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#

Traps are only worth knowing if somebody actually falls into them, so each one here was checked against what club players really play, not only against what an engine would.

Some of the variations

…and 7 more in the trainer.

Train it

ChessReflex drills the branch points where a line splits rather than making you replay it move by move, so a repertoire this size is a handful of decisions instead of hundreds of moves. Free, and no account needed to start.

Open Blackburne Shilling Gambit