Final position — Black is winning
King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Van Arkel–Welling)
Black wins in 5 moves with a decisive material gain. (Van Arkel - Welling, Netherlands 1974)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | d5 |
| 3. | fxe5 | Qh4+ |
| 4. | g3 | Qxe4+ |
| 5. | Kf2 | Bc5+ |
How the King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Van Arkel–Welling) works
The King's Gambit: Opening Trap (Van Arkel–Welling) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 5, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.fxe5 Qh4+ 4.g3 Qxe4+ 5.Kf2 Bc5+. 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 (Van Arkel - Welling, Netherlands 1974). 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 (Van Arkel–Welling) 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.