Siberian Trap
White chases your knight with a pawn. Your other knight jumps in, and the queen mates on h2 or wins White's queen.
Too few gamesreach this position around 800 to give a number
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing White against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- Smith-Morra Gambit
- You play
- Black
- The trap is set on
- Move 8
- What you win
- Checkmate, or White's queen
- If they do not bite
- A pawn up, game on
- Games counted
- 47,295 on Lichess
How to defend against the Siberian Trap
Bring your rook to the d file. Leave the knight alone and bring the rook to the open file.
A pawn down with active pieces.
The way out, move by move, as WhiteSiberian Trap moves
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Qe2 Ng4 9.h3 Nd4 10.Nxd4 Qh2#
- 1.e4White pushes the king's pawn
Most games start this way.
- 1…c5Push your c pawn two squares
This is the Sicilian Defence.
- 2.d4White pushes the d pawn
White offers a trade in the centre.
- 2…cxd4Take the pawn
White can take back, or offer a second pawn.
- 3.c3White offers a pawn
This is the Smith-Morra Gambit. White gives a pawn to get pieces out fast.
- 3…dxc3Take the pawn
You are a pawn up.
- 4.Nxc3White's knight takes back
White has a knight out and open lines.
- 4…Nc6Bring your knight out
Start getting your own pieces out.
- 5.Nf3White's other knight comes out
This knight guards h2. Remember that.
- 5…e6Push your e pawn one square
It opens the way for your bishop.
- 6.Bc4White's bishop comes out
The usual square in this gambit.
- 6…Qc7Slide your queen to c7
The queen looks all the way down to h2.
- 7.O-OWhite castles
The king goes to the side your queen is looking at.
- 7…Nf6Bring your other knight out
It is heading for g4.
- 8.Qe2White's queen steps up
White gets ready to push in the centre.
- 8…Ng4Jump your knight to g4
Queen and knight both aim at h2. You want the h pawn to chase the knight.
- 9.h3The h pawn chases your knight
It is the losing move.
- 9…Nd4Jump your other knight to d4
It attacks the queen and the knight that guards h2. White cannot save both.
- 10.Nxd4The knight takes your knight
That knight was the only guard of h2.
- 10…Qh2#Slide your queen to h2
Checkmate. Your knight on g4 guards the queen.
Checkmate.
See it one move at a timeSiberian Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the Siberian Trap?
If your opponent plays something else, a pawn up, game on.
How do you defend against the Siberian Trap?
As White, bring your rook to the d file. Leave the knight alone and bring the rook to the open file. A pawn down with active pieces.
What do you win with the Siberian Trap?
Checkmate, or White's queen. In the main line, checkmate.
At what rating does the Siberian Trap work?
It works best against players around 1100, where 38% chase the knight with the h pawn. Against players at 2100 and up, 9% 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.