Final position — White is winning
Bishop's Opening: Opening Trap
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Ursell - O'Hanlon, Southsea 1949)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Bc4 | Bc5 |
| 3. | c3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | d4 | exd4 |
| 5. | e5 | d5 |
| 6. | exf6 | dxc4 |
| 7. | Qh5 | Bf8 |
| 8. | Qe5+ | Be6 |
| 9. | fxg7 |
How the Bishop's Opening: Opening Trap works
The Bishop's Opening: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Bishop's opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.exf6 dxc4 7.Qh5 Bf8 8.Qe5+ Be6 9.fxg7. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Ursell - O'Hanlon, Southsea 1949). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Bishop's Opening: Opening Trap in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.