Final position — White is winning
Tennison Gambit (ICBM) Trap
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain.
The moves
| 1. | Nf3 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | dxe4 |
| 3. | Ng5 | Nf6 |
| 4. | d3 | exd3 |
| 5. | Bxd3 | h6 |
| 6. | Nxf7 | Kxf7 |
| 7. | Bg6+ | Kxg6 |
| 8. | Qxd8 |
How the Tennison Gambit (ICBM) Trap works
The Tennison Gambit (ICBM) Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Reti 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.Nf3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Ng5 Nf6 4.d3 exd3 5.Bxd3 h6 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Bg6+ Kxg6 8.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.
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 Tennison Gambit (ICBM) 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.