Mortimer Trap
Your knight steps back and leaves a pawn for free. If White's knight takes it, a pawn push and a queen check win a piece.
36%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
- Ruy Lopez
- You play
- Black
- The trap is set on
- Move 4
- What you win
- A knight
- If they do not bite
- A level game, nothing lost
- Games counted
- 123,950 on Lichess
How to defend against the Mortimer Trap
Castle your king. 22% of players rated around 800 leave the pawn alone. Get the king safe instead.
A level game.
The way out, move by move, as WhiteMortimer Trap moves
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Ne7 5.Nxe5 c6 6.Bc4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5
- 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.Nf3White's knight comes out
The knight attacks your pawn on e5.
- 2…Nc6Bring your knight out
Your knight defends the pawn.
- 3.Bb5White plays the Ruy Lopez
The bishop comes out to b5 and eyes your knight.
- 3…Nf6Bring your other knight out
This is the Berlin Defence. Your knight attacks White's pawn on e4.
- 4.d3White guards the pawn
A quiet move. The d pawn defends e4.
- 4…Ne7Step your knight back to e7
Your pawn on e5 has lost its guard. You want White's knight to take it.
- 5.Nxe5The knight takes the pawn
36% of players rated around 800 take the free pawn. This is the mistake.
- 5…c6Push your c pawn one square
The pawn attacks the bishop, and it opens a line for your queen to check on a5.
- 6.Bc4The bishop drops back to c4
64% of them move the bishop here.
- 6…Qa5+Check with your queen
The queen checks the king and attacks the knight on e5 at once.
- 7.Nc3A knight blocks the check
The knight on e5 cannot be saved.
- 7…Qxe5Take the knight
You are a knight up for a pawn.
You win a knight.
See it one move at a timeMortimer Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the Mortimer Trap?
64% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then a level game, nothing lost.
How do you defend against the Mortimer Trap?
As White, castle your king. 22% of players rated around 800 leave the pawn alone. Get the king safe instead. A level game.
What do you win with the Mortimer Trap?
A knight. In the main line, you win a knight.
At what rating does the Mortimer Trap work?
It works best against players around 1400, where 37% take the pawn. Against players at 2100 and up, 18% 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.