Final position — Black is winning
King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Rather–Gresser)
Black wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Rather - Gresser, New York 1946)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | exf4 |
| 3. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Nc3 | d5 |
| 5. | exd5 | Nxd5 |
| 6. | Nxd5 | Qxd5 |
| 7. | d4 | Be7 |
| 8. | Bxf4 | Qe4+ |
How the King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Rather–Gresser) works
The King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Rather–Gresser) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.d4 Be7 8.Bxf4 Qe4+. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Rather - Gresser, New York 1946). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Rather–Gresser) 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.