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Final position — Black is winning

King's pawn game

London Defense [Bb4]

Black wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📕 London Defense [Bb4] - Theory 💡 - C44 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.O-O Nf6 7.e5 d5 8.exf6 dxc4 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.fxg7 Rg8
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.d4exd4
4.Bc4Bb4+
5.c3dxc3
6.O-ONf6
7.e5d5
8.exf6dxc4
9.Qxd8+Kxd8
10.fxg7Rg8

How the London Defense [Bb4] works

The London Defense [Bb4] is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.O-O Nf6 7.e5 d5 8.exf6 dxc4 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.fxg7 Rg8. 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 (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📕 London Defense [Bb4] - Theory 💡 - C44 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the London Defense [Bb4] 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.

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