25 Opening Traps Beginners Fall For

1. Scholar's Mate (4 moves): 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6?? 4.Qxf7#. The most famous beginner trap. Defence: 3...g6 or 3...Qe7.
2. Fool's Mate (2 moves): 1.f3 e5 2.g4?? Qh4#. The fastest checkmate possible.
3. Légal's Mate: White sacrifices the queen to deliver checkmate with two knights and a bishop. A beautiful trap in the Philidor Defence.
4. Blackburne Shilling Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!?, if White takes the pawn on e5, Black plays ...Qg5 with a double attack.
5. Englund Gambit Trap: 1.d4 e5?! 2.dxe5, if White is careless, Black wins the queen with ...Qh4.

1. Fried Liver Attack: A knight sacrifice on f7 (5.Nxf7) in the Two Knights Defence that leads to a devastating attack on the exposed king. See its opening page.
2. Fishing Pole Trap: Black plays ...Ng4 and ...h5-h4, "fishing" with the h-pawn to hook open White's kingside, if White takes, Qh4 and mate threats follow.
3. Lasker Trap (QGD): Black allows the bishop pin (Bg5) and then wins the bishop with a pawn advance.
4. Elephant Trap (QGD): After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nxd5?? Nxd5! 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ winning the queen.
5. Rubinstein Trap: In the QGD, Black wins a piece with a discovered attack after a deceptive pawn capture sequence.

1. Stafford Gambit tricks: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6!?, Black gambits a pawn for a swarm of tactical threats including Ng4 and Bc5 attacks on f2. See its opening page.
2. Budapest Gambit Trap: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4, Black regains the pawn with tricks if White plays carelessly.
3. Caro-Kann Trap: In the advance variation, an early ...c5 can win a pawn if White doesn't know the theory.
4. Sicilian Wing Gambit Trap: White plays b4 in the Sicilian and if Black captures carelessly, gets hit by Bb2 and e5 with tempo.
5. Petroff Trap: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4?? (correct is 3...d6) 4.Qe2! and Black loses material. See the Petrov's Defense opening page.

1. Marshall Trap (Ruy Lopez): Black sacrifices a pawn for a powerful attack in the Marshall Gambit, if White doesn't know the theory, the attack is nearly irresistible. See the Marshall Attack opening page.
2. Halosar Trap: A Scandinavian Defence trap where Black sacrifices a piece for a devastating attack.
3. Mortimer Trap (Ruy Lopez): Black plays ...Ne7 and ...c6 to trap the bishop on b5.
4. Tarrasch Trap: In the Italian Game, after 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+?! Kxf7 5.Nxe5+?, Black wins material with a discovered attack.
5. Noah's Ark Trap (Ruy Lopez): After ...a6, ...b5, ...c5, the bishop on b3 is trapped by pawns.

1. Siberian Trap (Smith-Morra): Black plays ...Nd4 after White's Bc4, threatening Nf3+ forking king and queen.
2. Monticelli Trap: A line in the QGD where Black wins material with a discovered check motif.
3. QGA Trap: After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 b5? 4.a4 c6? 5.axb5 cxb5?? 6.Qf3 winning a rook. See the Queen's Gambit Accepted opening page.
4. King's Indian Attack Trap: White sacrifices on h5/h6 to rip open the kingside against an unprepared fianchetto.
5. Albin Counter-Gambit Trap: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4, Black's passed d-pawn creates tactical chaos if White is unprepared.

Study these traps in two ways: first, as Black/White, learn how to avoid them. Second, try to set them in your games, especially at the beginner level, opponents fall for standard traps frequently. Test your tactical awareness with puzzle training and explore the lines in our opening explorer. Also see 7 Opening Traps Before Move 10 for more detail on the most common ones.