Final position — Black is winning
London Defense [Bb4] Secondary Variation cxb2?
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📘 London Defense [Bb4] Secondary Variation cxb2? - 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 | cxb2 |
| 7. | Bxb2 | Nf6 |
| 8. | e5 | Ng4 |
| 9. | h3 | Nh6 |
How the London Defense [Bb4] Secondary Variation cxb2? works
The London Defense [Bb4] Secondary Variation cxb2? is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, 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 cxb2 7.Bxb2 Nf6 8.e5 Ng4 9.h3 Nh6. 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] Secondary Variation cxb2? - 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] Secondary Variation cxb2? 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.