Final position — Black delivers mate
Englund Gambit Trap
Black wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Silbermann - Honich, Czernowitz 1930)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | e5 |
| 2. | dxe5 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | Qe7 |
| 4. | Bf4 | Qb4+ |
| 5. | Bd2 | Qxb2 |
| 6. | Bc3 | Bb4 |
| 7. | Qd2 | Bxc3 |
| 8. | Qxc3 | Qc1# |
How the Englund Gambit Trap works
The Englund Gambit Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2 6.Bc3 Bb4 7.Qd2 Bxc3 8.Qxc3 Qc1#. 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 (Silbermann - Honich, Czernowitz 1930). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Englund Gambit 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.