Final position — White is winning
Petrov's Defence: Opening Trap (Zapata–Anand)
White wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Zapata - Anand, Biel 1988)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nxe5 | d6 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Nxe4 |
| 5. | Nc3 | Bf5 |
| 6. | Qe2 |
How the Petrov's Defence: Opening Trap (Zapata–Anand) works
The Petrov's Defence: Opening Trap (Zapata–Anand) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Qe2. 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 (Zapata - Anand, Biel 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Petrov's Defence: Opening Trap (Zapata–Anand) 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.