The 1st Chess Opening Traps Of Famous Grandmasters
Most chess players have a favorite opening trap, a trick they use to win many quick games. At the highest level, these tricks have to be quite sophisticated to catch experienced opponents, but when you're new to chess, many opening traps can rake in the points. We recently asked some of the strongest players in the world to describe the first opening traps that they ever learned.
You can watch the video below, or read on to see the highlights.
- Magnus Carlsen's Englund Gambit
- Ju Wenjun and Fabiano Caruana's Fried Liver
- Anna Muzychuk's Budapest Defense
- Lei Tingjie's Scholar's Mate
Magnus Carlsen's Englund Gambit
Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen learned his first opening trap the hard way. In his very first tournament game, his opponent tried the dubious Englund Gambit. It's a terrible opening, but it does have a couple of tricks. Young Magnus walked into one of them.
Ju Wenjun and Fabiano Caruana's Fried Liver
Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun and 2018 World Championship Challenger Fabiano Caruana both learned the same classic opening trap at a young age.
Anna Muzychuk's Budapest Defense
GM Anna Muzychuk's first opening trap begins with the Budapest Defense, a tricky way to meet 1.d4. After some logical moves for both sides, Black appears to blunder a bishop. Often White captures it and gets a shocking surprise on the very next move!
Lei Tingjie's Scholar's Mate
2023 Women's World Championship Challenger GM Lei Tingjie's first opening trap is probably the most important for any beginner to learn. Many new players fall victim to Scholar's Mate, also called the Four Move Checkmate. Here's what to look for.
What was the first opening trap that you learned? Let us know in the comments.
