Final position — White is winning
Philidor's Defence: Opening Trap
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Hagesaether - Szuveges, Germany 1992)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Be6 |
| 4. | d4 | exd4 |
| 5. | Nxd4 | g6 |
| 6. | Nxe6 | fxe6 |
| 7. | Bc4 | e5 |
| 8. | Qd5 |
How the Philidor's Defence: Opening Trap works
The Philidor's Defence: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Philidor's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Be6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.Nxe6 fxe6 7.Bc4 e5 8.Qd5. 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 (Hagesaether - Szuveges, Germany 1992). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Philidor's Defence: Opening 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.