Final position — White is winning
O'Kelly Trap
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain.
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | a6 |
| 3. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 4. | Nxd4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Nc3 | e5 |
| 6. | Nf3 | Bb4 |
| 7. | Bd3 | d5 |
| 8. | exd5 | e4 |
How the O'Kelly Trap works
The O'Kelly Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. 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 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 e4. 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.
Recognising this pattern early lets you either spring it as White or calmly sidestep it when you are Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the O'Kelly 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.