Opening traps
This page details a few opening traps that one should be aware of.Opening Traps in the Frence Defence
If White plays 1.e4, which is a very good and common opening move, Black can select to play the French Defence, by playing 1...e6. That is all there is to it!
Typically the moves 2.d4 d5 will then be played. Many web sites have lots of French Defence games played by very good players that you can download and play with. I like the French Defence and reccomend you play it as Black, but I am not going to show any GM games.
Instead, I will concentrate on games that were played on ICC by players between 1200 and 2000 (ICC ratings). These have tactical errors, which which will be explained. You are unlikly to find such errors in games played by GM's, but you are likely to find them in games played between weaker players. As such, these games are very instructive. You will see how to win pieces and pawns in these games that you will never see in games played by GMs. Hence you must study games played by weaker players - not just grandmasters!
For a 3rd move, white has four main choices.
| White's 3rd move | Name |
|---|---|
| 3.Nc3 | Main line |
| 3.Nd2 | Tarrasch variation |
| 3.e5 | Advance variation |
| 3.exd5 | Exchange variation |
Instructive French Defense games played by weaker players.
- Loosing a pawn in the Advance French. A large number of games played by weaker players will result in the loss of a pawn, which is won by forcing White into obstructing the queens defence of d4. This occurs in many French Defence games with the Advance variation (3.e5). So you need to know how to avoid the blunder, and how to exploit it if your opponent makes the blunder. Play game number 1 (Tyler6666 vs guest7840) and see this very common opening mistake. Then look at game number 2 (oxoman vs guest4567) and see a similar error, although the moves are different. There are many variations of this but all involve Black capturing the e5 pawn with ...Nxe5.
- Loosing a pawn (or worst) by playing 6.b3 is the French Defence, Advance Winawer variation. Another common error is for White to play 6.b3, thinking he is protecting his b-pawn. In fact, this is a fallacy, as you can see in game number 3 (lokiboy vs Retribution)
There are many other traps for the unweary in the French Defence. If you would like to discuss these, then please contact me. Remember I will usually give a free lesson to serious students.
Opening Traps in the Smith Morra Gambit
The Sicilian Defence (1.e4 c5) is a very common opening nowadays. The Smith Morra Gambit is generally considered not to be particularly sound at the highest levels of chess, but at lower levels it is very effective. White can often crush Black, even if Black is aware of some of the very basic errors. Here are a couple of games with the Smith-Morra Gambit.
Website administered by Dr. David Kirkby of http://www.essex-computing.co.uk/