Trap · played as White
Legal's Mate
The oldest trap worth knowing: 5.Nxe5! offers the queen, and 5...Bxd1?? is mated by 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#. Black must decline, but then White has simply won a pawn.
A position this opening is aiming for.
- You play
- White
- Variations covered
- 13
- What it wins
- Checkmate
The main line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
How the trap springs
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
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
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Nc6 7.Nd5 Nd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Qd7 7.d4 exd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.a3 c6 7.Ba2 Nbd7
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.a3 Bg6 7.d4 Nbd7
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Nf6 7.Nd5 Nd4
…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 Legal's Mate →