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Let's say I play only e4/e5 (but this question might also come up on d4/d5). If I was a beginner - unaware of opening theory - but could count at least 3 moves ahead, could I survive (=not be lost at move 15) basically any type of opening by following only the basic "principles" ?

I am asking because if I wanted to teach somebody openings, I should obviously just first teach them principles, but what about these opening traps?

I cannot remember one off the top of my head, but I believe there are some openings which look okay, but it turns out there is a forced loss after 10 moves.

Brian Towers
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Ferazhu
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3 Answers3

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I am asking because if I wanted to teach somebody openings, I should obviously just first teach them principles, but what about these opening traps?

Exactly. There are many opening traps and if you don't know them they are very easy to fall into. For instance it is easy for a beginner playing the Ruy Lopez to fall for a trap which is so old it is called the "Noah's Ark" trap:

[fen ""]

    

  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. d4  b5 6. Bb3 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4?? c5 9. Qd5 Be6 10. Qc6+ Bd7 11. Qd5 c4
    2.

You either learn this stuff or risk becoming a victim.

Brian Towers
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    I'm a complete novice, so excuse my ignorance, but how exactly is this a trap? The most obvious move for me on 8 is for white Bd5, which would prevent the bishop from becoming trapped. – BlackThorn Aug 10 '21 at 21:32
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    @BlackThorn You're probably not a complete novice if your first thought is to "ignore" the "free pawn". While it seems simple/obvious lots and lots of players have trouble forgoing what appears to be free material(or recovering material), especially in the <10 min games. It may be easier for you, but playing position > "basics" typically isn't (spoken as someone who makes silly mistakes all the time) – TCooper Aug 10 '21 at 22:09
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    Interesting trap, but white does violate one of the opening principles: Don't bring your queen out early. – Akavall Aug 10 '21 at 22:40
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    @Akavall But "take free material" takes precedence over "don't move your queen out early", assuming it actually is free material. – Acccumulation Aug 10 '21 at 22:52
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    Doesn't seem like much of a trap. Black is giving up three pawns for a bishop. Hardly a lost game at low skill levels. – Acccumulation Aug 10 '21 at 22:54
  • @Acccumulation it's not 3 pawns - only two (Bxc4 bxc4 Qxc4). – Allure Aug 11 '21 at 01:36
  • I have never seen this trap before. I found White's P-Q4 unnatural. I've seen other variants of an attack based on the same principle of potentially trapping the bishop but I used to have a thesis of you can't actually win the bishop this way. It usually ends up on R2 with a pawn on R3 blocking any chance of winning it. – Joshua Aug 11 '21 at 03:06
  • Yeah this is pretty interesting. First, instead of Qxd4, White should probably play something like a4 (attacks pawn on b5 to get time), but already against principles. Instead of 6.d4, a viable move is 0-0 (but that might give up bishop after b5-Na5) or Bxc6+ - and here you have to know why White waits with the capture (so black has to take with the b-pawn instead of d-pawn). – Ferazhu Aug 11 '21 at 07:25
  • It would not be clear to a beginner why 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 is not good for Black. It takes a deep tactical analysis to show that if 3.Nxe5 fe5 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 then Black does not have a significant counter-attack and also that White can extricate the Q from the corner before it gets trapped. – DanielWainfleet Aug 11 '21 at 10:45
  • @DanielWainfleet: But a beginner can be told never to move the pawns in front of the to-be-castled king, unless prompted by real danger. Very little can wrong with always castling anyway. – user21820 Aug 11 '21 at 13:33
  • A far simpler version of this is if white plays 9. Qc3 or even 9qd1 or similar, black plays 9..c5. No need for all the complicated queen manoeuvering. – Steve Bennett Aug 12 '21 at 01:03
  • @user21820 . & then you confuse the beginner with the King's Gambit or King's Indian! :) – DanielWainfleet Aug 12 '21 at 08:53
  • @DanielWainfleet: If it's really a beginner, they can just learn to use a safe initial opening. The question here says e4/e5. – user21820 Aug 12 '21 at 12:54
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In my first 10 years of playing chess I never studied openings. I studied middle game, positional play, and endings. Falling for traps is a great way to learn about them, very memorable. I did play through many master games and so had a feel of openings from that.

Against strong opposition I often ended up in cramped positions struggling for activity out of the opening. I enjoyed these positions. Korchnoi was my hero :)

Eventually I didn't like those positions and then I learned openings.

I have no regrets.

Michael West
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    I've been re-learning for almost a year now (played minimally as a kid), and I've found that playing 5 or 10min games rapidly has been a much more fun way to learn openings/traps than studying a book. I don't know the "proper names" of anything, but fall for opening traps less and less. As you say "Falling for traps is a great way to learn about them, very memorable" - rarely fall for the same twice, where I'm sure that even if I'd read about it 10 times, I'd probably still fall for it once anyway. – TCooper Aug 11 '21 at 15:26
  • @TCooper agree. The only time I play blitz is when I am trying out a new opening. – Michael West Aug 11 '21 at 19:29
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    I also find that studying openings is not effective for me actually learning them. I spent ages memorising various lines of the Stafford Gambit, and still couldn't actually put them into practice in a game. It only seems to sink in when I have actually played the lines in a game, and then go back and analyse. – Steve Bennett Aug 12 '21 at 01:05
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    @SteveBennett agree. And If I am willing to spend the time I also find it useful to pick some practitioners of an opening and play through 100 games to see the ideas – Michael West Aug 12 '21 at 03:01
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Sometimes violating opening principles is one's best way of playing for an advantage. Even if you are not the one playing for advantage, opponent might be.

The first opening that comes to mind is the Two Knights Defense:

[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 {Black's played completely according to principles so far - "develop knights before bishops", etc.} 4. Ng5!? {This is White's best way of playing for an advantage, but it violates the opening principle of not moving the same piece twice.} d5 {It's either this or 4...Bc5 giving up the f7-pawn, which is an even riskier move.} 5. exd5 Nxd5?! {This move is known to be dubious, but the main line 5...Na5 is effectively a pawn sacrifice.} 6. d4

With a powerful initiative. White doesn't have a forced win, but has open lines and is ready to castle, with threats such as Qf3 hitting both the d5-knight and f7-pawn.

A different line of the Giuoco Piano comes to mind as well.

[FEN ""]    
  1. e4             e5            
  2. Nf3            Nc6            
  3. Bc4            Bc5           
  4. c3             Nf6          
  5. d4             exd4
  6. e5

Black's best move is 6...d5 (the alternatives are nearly losing), which is not an obvious move and not something that you can find knowing only opening principles.

Allure
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  • 4... Bc5 may be risky, but it's also a lot more fun. Especially if White takes with the knight. – Kevin Aug 11 '21 at 05:31
  • Yeah, in both of these positions, Nf6 and Bc5 seem like normal moves, but can quickly lead to complicated positions. – Ferazhu Aug 11 '21 at 07:21