Final position — White is winning
Philidor's Defence: Opening Trap #2
White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Clay558, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | d4 | Bg4 |
| 4. | dxe5 | Bxf3 |
| 5. | Qxf3 | dxe5 |
| 6. | Bc4 | Bb4+ |
| 7. | c3 |
How the Philidor's Defence: Opening Trap #2 works
The Philidor's Defence: Opening Trap #2 is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Philidor's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Bb4+ 7.c3. 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 (Wall - Clay558, Internet 1996). 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 #2 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.