abcdefgh

Final position — White is winning

Bishop's opening

Bishop's Opening: Wins the Exchange

White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Linke - Huber, Germany 1992)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 d6 5.Qd5 Be6 6.Qxb7 Bxc4 7.Qxa8 dxe5 8.Qxe4
1.e4e5
2.Bc4Nf6
3.d4Nxe4
4.dxe5d6
5.Qd5Be6
6.Qxb7Bxc4
7.Qxa8dxe5
8.Qxe4

How the Bishop's Opening: Wins the Exchange works

The Bishop's Opening: Wins the Exchange is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Bishop's opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 d6 5.Qd5 Be6 6.Qxb7 Bxc4 7.Qxa8 dxe5 8.Qxe4. 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 (Linke - Huber, Germany 1992). 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: Wins the Exchange 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.

More Bishop's opening traps

← Browse all chess traps