Damiano Defence Trap
Black guards a pawn with the f pawn, which is a blunder. You give up a knight for it, and your queen comes in with check after check.
2%of players rated around 800 guard the pawn with the f pawn here
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing Black against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- Damiano Defence
- You play
- White
- The trap is set on
- Move 2
- What you win
- A rook, or a winning attack
- If they do not bite
- A normal opening
- Games counted
- 865 million on Lichess
How to defend against the Damiano Defence Trap
Guard the pawn with your knight. 63% of players rated around 800 find it. The knight guards the pawn, and your king keeps its cover.
A normal game.
The way out, move by move, as BlackDamiano Defence Trap moves
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8
- 1.e4Push your king's pawn
The usual first move.
- 1…e5Black pushes the king's pawn too
Black meets you in the centre.
- 2.Nf3Bring your knight out
It attacks the pawn on e5. You want Black to guard it with the f pawn.
- 2…f6Black guards the pawn with the f pawn
2% of players rated around 800 guard it with the f pawn. This is the Damiano Defence, a mistake: the king's side is open.
- 3.Nxe5Take the pawn with your knight
You give the knight up. If the pawn takes it, your queen comes in with check.
- 3…fxe5The pawn takes your knight
77% of players rated around 800 take the knight. Now the line to the king is open.
- 4.Qh5+Check with your queen
The king has two ways to answer, and both lose.
- 4…g6A pawn blocks the check
59% of them block with the pawn.
- 5.Qxe5+Take the pawn with check
The queen checks the king and attacks the rook in the corner.
- 5…Qe7The queen blocks
The rook is left alone.
- 6.Qxh8Take the rook
You have a rook and two pawns for your knight.
You win a rook.
See it one move at a timeDamiano Defence Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the Damiano Defence Trap?
98% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then a normal opening.
How do you defend against the Damiano Defence Trap?
As Black, guard the pawn with your knight. 63% of players rated around 800 find it. The knight guards the pawn, and your king keeps its cover. A normal game.
What do you win with the Damiano Defence Trap?
A rook, or a winning attack. In the main line, you win a rook.
At what rating does the Damiano Defence Trap work?
It works best against players under 400, where 4% guard the pawn with the f pawn. Against players around 2000, <1% do.
More traps
All opening trapsCounted from the rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess that reached this position. Ratings are shown as Chess.com ratings: the games are grouped by Lichess rating, which runs higher, and each group is named by the Chess.com rating it comes to in ChessGoals' comparison of players with an account on both. A rating with fewer than 300 such games shows no number.