King's Gambit Declined Trap
White grabs your e pawn on move three. Your queen gives a check that wins a rook, or mates if the king steps up.
11%of players rated around 800 take the pawn here
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing White against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- King's Gambit
- You play
- Black
- The trap is set on
- Move 2
- What you win
- A rook, or checkmate
- If they do not bite
- A level game, nothing lost
- Games counted
- 2.7 million on Lichess
How to defend against the King's Gambit Declined Trap
Bring your knight out first. 77% of players rated around 800 find it. The knight guards h4, so there is no queen check.
A level game.
The way out, move by move, as WhiteKing's Gambit Declined Trap moves
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.fxe5 Qh4+ 4.g3 Qxe4+ 5.Qe2 Qxh1
- 1.e4White pushes the king's pawn
Most games start this way.
- 1…e5Push your king's pawn too
Meet White in the centre.
- 2.f4White plays the King's Gambit
White offers the f pawn. It also opens a line to the white king.
- 2…Bc5Bring your bishop out
You leave the pawn on e5 alone. You want White's f pawn to take it.
- 3.fxe5The pawn takes your pawn
11% of players rated around 800 take it. The line to the king is wide open now.
- 3…Qh4+Check with your queen
White can block with a pawn or move the king. Both lose.
- 4.g3A pawn blocks the check
81% of them block. The pawn on e4 has no guard.
- 4…Qxe4+Take the pawn on e4 with check
The queen checks the king and attacks the rook in the corner.
- 5.Qe2The queen blocks
63% of them block with the queen.
- 5…Qxh1Take the rook
You are a rook up.
You win a rook.
See it one move at a timeKing's Gambit Declined Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the King's Gambit Declined Trap?
89% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then a level game, nothing lost.
How do you defend against the King's Gambit Declined Trap?
As White, bring your knight out first. 77% of players rated around 800 find it. The knight guards h4, so there is no queen check. A level game.
What do you win with the King's Gambit Declined Trap?
A rook, or checkmate. In the main line, you win a rook.
At what rating does the King's Gambit Declined Trap work?
It works best against players under 400, where 20% take the pawn. 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.