From's Gambit Trap
You give up a pawn to open the line to White's king. One careless move and your queen and bishop give checkmate.
5%of players rated around 800 bring the wrong knight out here
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing White against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- Bird's Opening
- You play
- Black
- The trap is set on
- Move 3
- What you win
- Checkmate on move six
- If they do not bite
- A pawn down with an attack
- Games counted
- 979,483 on Lichess
How to defend against the From's Gambit Trap
Bring the right knight out. 70% of players rated around 800 find it. This knight guards h4, so there is no queen check.
A pawn up, game on.
The way out, move by move, as WhiteFrom's Gambit Trap moves
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nc3 Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 6.hxg3 Bxg3#
- 1.f4White pushes the f pawn
This is Bird's Opening. The pawn has left the king's side a little open.
- 1…e5Push your king's pawn two squares
This is From's Gambit. You offer a pawn to open lines.
- 2.fxe5White takes the pawn
Offer a second one.
- 2…d6Push your d pawn one square
You want White to take again.
- 3.exd6White takes again
Take back with your bishop.
- 3…Bxd6Take back with your bishop
Your queen can check on h4 now. You want the knight on b1 to come out.
- 4.Nc3The wrong knight comes out
5% of players rated around 800 bring this knight out. It does not stop the check.
- 4…Qh4+Check with your queen
The only way to block is with the g pawn.
- 5.g3A pawn blocks the check
Now give up the queen.
- 5…Qxg3+Take the pawn with your queen
The h pawn has to take her.
- 6.hxg3The pawn takes your queen
The line to the king is open.
- 6…Bxg3#Take the pawn with your bishop
Checkmate. The king is boxed in by its own pieces.
Checkmate.
See it one move at a timeFrom's Gambit Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the From's Gambit Trap?
95% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then a pawn down with an attack.
How do you defend against the From's Gambit Trap?
As White, bring the right knight out. 70% of players rated around 800 find it. This knight guards h4, so there is no queen check. A pawn up, game on.
What do you win with the From's Gambit Trap?
Checkmate on move six. In the main line, checkmate.
At what rating does the From's Gambit Trap work?
It works best against players under 400, where 6% bring the wrong knight out. Against players at 2100 and up, <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.