Halosar Trap
You give up two pawns and castle long. If Black's bishop attacks your queen, your knight jumps in and it is mate on c7.
47%of players rated around 800 attack your queen with the bishop here
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing Black against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
- You play
- White
- The trap is set on
- Move 7
- What you win
- Checkmate, or a knight
- If they do not bite
- Two pawns down, game on
- Games counted
- 66,529 on Lichess
How to defend against the Halosar Trap
Push your e pawn one square. 16% of players rated around 800 find it. The pawn opens the way for your bishop to guard c7.
Two pawns up, game on.
The way out, move by move, as BlackHalosar Trap moves
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 Qxd4 6.Be3 Qb4 7.O-O-O Bg4 8.Nb5 Bxf3 9.Nxc7#
- 1.d4Push your queen's pawn
A solid first move.
- 1…d5Black pushes the queen's pawn too
Black meets you in the centre.
- 2.e4Offer your king's pawn
This is the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. You give up a pawn to get pieces out fast.
- 2…dxe4Black takes the pawn
Now attack that pawn.
- 3.Nc3Bring your knight out
The knight attacks the pawn on e4.
- 3…Nf6Black's knight guards the pawn
A natural move.
- 4.f3Push your f pawn one square
You offer to trade the pawn off and open more lines.
- 4…exf3Black takes again
Take back with your queen, not the knight.
- 5.Qxf3Take back with your queen
This leaves the pawn on d4 without a guard. It is a second gift.
- 5…Qxd4Black's queen takes the second pawn
Black is two pawns up, and the queen is out in the open.
- 6.Be3Bring your bishop out
The bishop attacks the queen, so she has to move.
- 6…Qb4The queen slides to b4
She attacks your pawn on b2.
- 7.O-O-OCastle on the queen side
Your rook takes the open d file. You want the bishop to attack your queen.
- 7…Bg4The bishop attacks your queen
47% of players rated around 800 play this. It looks like it wins the rook behind her.
- 8.Nb5Jump your knight to b5
You leave the queen where she is. The knight threatens mate on c7.
- 8…Bxf3The bishop takes your queen
82% of them take her.
- 9.Nxc7#Take the pawn on c7 with your knight
Checkmate. Your rook covers the d file, so the king has nowhere to go.
Checkmate.
See it one move at a timeHalosar Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the Halosar Trap?
53% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then two pawns down, game on.
How do you defend against the Halosar Trap?
As Black, push your e pawn one square. 16% of players rated around 800 find it. The pawn opens the way for your bishop to guard c7. Two pawns up, game on.
What do you win with the Halosar Trap?
Checkmate, or a knight. In the main line, checkmate.
At what rating does the Halosar Trap work?
It works best against players around 500, where 48% attack your queen with the bishop. Against players around 2000, 46% 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.