Owen's Defence Trap
Black's f pawn opens the line to the king so the bishop can grab a rook. Your queen checks, and three moves later it is mate.
4%of players rated around 800 push the f pawn here
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing Black against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- Owen's Defence
- You play
- White
- The trap is set on
- Move 3
- What you win
- Checkmate, or an attack
- If they do not bite
- A good game anyway
- Games counted
- 5.5 million on Lichess
How to defend against the Owen's Defence Trap
Push your e pawn one square. 33% of players rated around 800 find it. The pawn frees your other bishop, and your king keeps its cover.
No trap, a normal game.
The way out, move by move, as BlackOwen's Defence Trap moves
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Nf6 7.gxh7+ Nxh5 8.Bg6#
- 1.e4Push your king's pawn
The usual first move.
- 1…b6Black pushes the b pawn one square
This is Owen's Defence. The bishop will come out to b7.
- 2.d4Push your d pawn
Take the centre with two pawns.
- 2…Bb7Black's bishop comes out
The bishop attacks your pawn on e4.
- 3.Bd3Bring your bishop out to d3
The bishop guards your pawn on e4. You want the f pawn to attack it again.
- 3…f5The f pawn attacks your pawn
4% of players rated around 800 play this. The pawn has left the king's side open.
- 4.exf5Take the f pawn
You let the bishop take on g2. Your rook is the bait.
- 4…Bxg2The bishop takes on g2
The bishop attacks your rook in the corner. Ignore it.
- 5.Qh5+Check with your queen
The only way to block is with the g pawn.
- 5…g6A pawn blocks the check
Take it.
- 6.fxg6Take the pawn on g6
Your pawn threatens to take again with check. Black is already lost.
- 6…Nf6A knight attacks your queen
55% of them attack the queen. Leave her there.
- 7.gxh7+Take the pawn on h7
Your pawn uncovers a check from the queen, so the knight takes her.
- 7…Nxh5The knight takes your queen
The line to the king is open for your bishop.
- 8.Bg6#Slide your bishop to g6
Checkmate.
Checkmate.
See it one move at a timeOwen's Defence Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the Owen's Defence Trap?
96% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then a good game anyway.
How do you defend against the Owen's Defence Trap?
As Black, push your e pawn one square. 33% of players rated around 800 find it. The pawn frees your other bishop, and your king keeps its cover. No trap, a normal game.
What do you win with the Owen's Defence Trap?
Checkmate, or an attack. In the main line, checkmate.
At what rating does the Owen's Defence Trap work?
It works best against players at 2100 and up, where 5% push the f pawn. Against players around 1700, 2% 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.