Page 3 700 Opening Traps

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Page 84

700 Opening Traps

Bill Wall

Sicilian Defense 

(1.e4 c5)

The Sicilian Defense is one of the most popular defenses against 1.e4 played 

at the master level.  There are a very large number of traps found on both 

sides of the Sicilian Defense. 

1.e4 c5 2.b4 (the Wing Gambit) 2...cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.axb4?? Qe5+ 

winning the rook after 6...Qxa1. (Shirazi - Jack Peters, US Championship, 

Berkeley 1984)

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d6 3.d4 (to control the center) 3...Nf6 4.dxc5 Nxe4?? 5.Qa4+ 

and winning the knight after 6.Qxe4.  (Suchin-Miroshishenko, Moscow 

1979 and repeated in Darnstaedt - Gierden, Dortmund 1991)

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 Nf6 6.Bd3 c4 7.Qa4+?? b5,  

losing the Bishop  (Wittig - Gelzenleichter, Dortmund 1987)

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 Nf4 5.Qf3 Ng6?? [Black must play 5…

Ne6] 6.Qxf7 mate (Correa - Barkoviak, Internet 1996)

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 g6 4.d3 Bg7 5.Be3 Nd4 6.g3?? Nf3 mate  

(Marjanovic - Zhivanov, Panchev 1946)

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Ne2 e6 

8.d3?? Qa5+ and winning the bishop (Smrcka - Engel, Postal 1968)

1.e4 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Ne2 Nf6 4.Nbc3 Nb4 5.g3?? Nd3 mate (Molinari - 

Bordais, 1979)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 (the Smith-Morra Gambit) 2...Na6 (Black should play 2...cxd4)  

3.Bxa6 bxa6 4.dxc5 Nf6 5.e5 Ne4?? 6.Qd5, trapping the Knight. (Wall - 

Somarian, Internet 1996)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qe2 Ngf6?? [perhaps 5…e6 is 

best] 6.Nd6 mate (Deming - Cornell, Indiana 1980)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 g6 6.e5 dxe5?? 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 

8.Qxd8, wins the Queen  (Rechi - Grassi, Dubai 1986)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 Nf6 (or 5...g6 6.e5 dxe5 Bxf7+, 

Rechi - Grassi, Dubai 1986) 6.e5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+, winning the Queen (Zardus 

- Steventon, New Jersey 1986)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.e5 Nxe5 

8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Bxf7+, winning the Queen (Kvist - Johannson, Postal 1958)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 g6 6.Bc4 Na5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 

8.Qd4 Bg7 9.Ng5+ Kf8 10.Ne6+, wins the Queen (Kurtes - Berta, Hungary 

1958)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4? b5 5.Bb3 c4, trapping the Bishop 

(Bleischmidt - Lytschuk, Postal 1976)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Qb6 4.Nc3 Nd4 5.Nxd4 cxd4 6.Nd5 Qd8 

[perhaps 6…Qd6] 7.Qh5 a6? [slightly better is 7…Nf6] 8.Qe5 f6 9.Nc7+ 

Kf7 10.Qd5+  and if 10…e6 11.Nxe6 dxe6 12.Qxd8 (Smirin - Afek, Israel 

1992)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Nxg4? 

[Black should just continue with 7…Bg6] 8.hxg4 Bxg4 9.Bxf7+! Kd7 [if 

9…Kxf7 10.Ng5+ and 11.Qxg4] 10.Bd5 Ne5?? 11.Nxe5+ dxe5 12.Qxg4+ 

(Tulip - Clissold, Nottingham 1946)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 (usual is 4...Nf6) 5.Nf5 Nge7?? 

6.Nd6 mate (McCrowther - McCann, Scotland 1893)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 

bxc6 8.e5 dxe5 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qxd8 wins the Queen (Vavrak - Mohsin, 

Germany 1992)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 Bd7 7.Be2 e5 

8.Ndb5 Bc8? [8…Be6] 9.Nd5 Be6 10.Nbc7+, winning the Rook (P. Mecking 

- Sepulveda, Internet 1995)1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Nxe4?? 5.Qa4+ 

and 6.Qxe4, winning the knight.  (Seret - Liedl, France 1992 and repeated in 

Werner - Zelner, St Martin 1993)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.h3 Nxe4?? [4…g6 would have been a good 

choice] 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Qxe4 (Hodova - Pop, Herculane 1994)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.O-O e6 5.c3 Nf6 6.d4 Nxe4 7.d5 Ne7 8.dxe6 

Bxe6? [8…fxe6 was called for] 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Qa4+, winning the Knight ater 

11.Qxe4 (Wetscherek - Erhart, Germany 1992)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 b6 4.dxc5 bxc5?? 5.Qd5, winning the rook (Michel - 

Iliesco, Mar del Plata 1943)

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