Page 3 700 Opening Traps

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Page 46

700 Opening Traps

Bill Wall

Grob’s Opening 

(1.g4)

 

 

This opening was analyzed and played extensively by the Swiss master Henry 

Grob (1904-1974).  White must avoid getting checkmated in 2 moves after 

1.g4 e5 2.f3?? Qh4 mate.  Several traps may arise from this opening.

1.g4 d5 2.e3 e5 3.f4?? [White should try 3.Nc3] 3…Qh4+ 4.Ke2 Bxg4+ 

5.Nf3 Bxf3+ 6.Kxf3 Qh5+ wins the Queen (Unknown - Gaeta, 1987)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.Qb3 Qc7 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Bxd5?? [6.Nc3 should 

be tried] 6…Qxc1+  (Lippens - Smit)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.Qb3 Qc8 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nxd5 exd5? 

[7…Nc6 looks better] 8.Bxd5 Be6  9.Qxb7 Bxd5 10.Qxc8+ wins the Queen 

(McDaniel - Ladd, Fremont, CA 1985)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 Nf6 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.dxc6 Qxb3?? [best 

is 6…bxc6] 7.cxb7 Qxb7 8.Bxb7 wins the Rook (Wall - Kubasek, Thailand 

1973)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Qb3 e6?? [5…Nf6 is better] 

6.Qa4+ (Bloodgood - Bowlby, Virginia 1974)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 e6 4.Qb3 Nc6 [4…c6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qa4+ wins 

the Bishop, Van der Heiden - Van Wanrooy, Netherlands 1978] 5.cxd5 exd5 

6.Bxd5 Bd6 7.Bxf7+ Kf8 8.Bxg8 Rxg8 9.Qxb7 Ne5 10.d4 Ng6 11.Nc3 Kf7 

12.h3 Bh5 13.Qd5+ wins the Bishop after 14.Qxh5 (Wall - Ukralex, Internet 

1997)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Qb3 Nf6 6.Qxb7 Ne4 7.Qxa8 

Bc5 8.Bxe4 dxe4 9.Qxe4+ wins a piece  (Wall - Puke, Internet 1996)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 e6?? [5…Be6 or 5…c6 are 

better choices] 6.Qa4+ (Lemke - Brummett, Schenectady 1977)

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 g6 3.h4 Bxg4 4.c4 c6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 e6?? [maybe 6…

Nf6 7.Qxb7 Qc8 and if 8.Qxa8?? Qxc1 mate] 7.Qa4+ wins the Bishop after 

8.Qxg4 (De Vries - Broekhoeven, Eindhoven 1979)

1.g4 d5 2.g5 e5 3.c4 dxc4 4.Na3 Bxa3 5.bxa3 Qd4 6.Rb1 Qe4 wins a Rook  

(Nemet - Knezevic, Yugoslavia 1972)

1.g4 d5 2.g5 e5 3.c4 Be6 4.Nc3 d4? [perhaps 4…Bxg4] 5.Bxb7 dxc3 6.Bxa8 

Bc5 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qa5 and White remains an exchange up (Schoenau - 

Froka, Nuremberg 1988)

1.g4 e5 2.Bg2 Bc5 3.h3 Qh4?! 4.e3 Nf6 [Black should retreat the Queen 

so that it won’t get trapped)5.d4 exd4 6.exd4 Bd6 7.Nf3 traps the Queen 

(Bloodgood - Mizesko, 1975)

1.g4 e5 2.Bg2 d6 3.c4 Bxg4?? 4.Bxb7 wins the rook (Cunliffe - Friedlander, 

Pittsburgh 1986)

1.g4 e5 2.Bg2 d6 3.h3 f5 4.gxf5 Bxf5 5.Bxb7 wins the exchange (Wall - 

Shirley, Dayton 1981)

1.g4 e5 2.Bg2 h5 3.gxh5 d5 4.d4 e4 5.Bf4 Bd6 6.Bg3 Nf6 7.Qd2 Na6 8.Nc3 

c6 9.Qg5 Rxh5 10.Qxg7?? [White should play 10.Qd2] 10…Bf8 traps the 

Queen (Hengstler - Schlenker, Zavelstein 1976)

1.g4 Nf6 2.g5 Ng4 3.d4 Nc6?? 4.h3, trapping the Knight.

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