Final position — White is winning
Magnus Smith Trap
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Stenner - Husfeldt, Germany 1989)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 4. | Nxd4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Nc3 | Nc6 |
| 6. | Bc4 | g6 |
| 7. | Nxc6 | bxc6 |
| 8. | e5 | dxe5 |
| 9. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 10. | Qxd8 |
How the Magnus Smith Trap works
The Magnus Smith Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 dxe5 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qxd8. 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 (Stenner - Husfeldt, Germany 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Magnus Smith 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.