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Fishing Pole trap

Black dangles a knight on g4 like bait on a hook. Bite, and the h-file opens straight onto White's king.

Trap · as Black

The trap

  1. 1.e4 · White starts with the king's pawn.
  2. 1...e5 · Black answers with the classical reply.
  3. 2.Nf3 · The knight attacks e5 and heads toward castling.
  4. 2...Nc6 · Black guards the pawn with the knight.
  5. 3.Bb5 · The Ruy Lopez: the bishop pressures the knight that guards e5.
  6. 3...Nf6 · The Berlin: Black develops and attacks the pawn on e4.
  7. 4.O-O · White castles, happy to let e4 go for now. Normal and good.
  8. 4...Ng4!? · The bait. The knight hops to g4, where it seems to hang next to White's king.
  9. 5.h3 · White attacks the knight with the h-pawn. Most players expect it to run away.
  10. 5...h5! · Instead Black leaves it there and backs it up with the fishing pole, the h-pawn. Taking it will open the h-file.
  11. 6.hxg4? · Hooked. Grabbing the knight opens the h-file, and Black's rook and queen are ready to pour in.
  12. 6...hxg4 · Black takes back. The rook on h8 now looks straight down the open file.
  13. 7.Ne1?? · The pawn attacked the knight, so it steps back, but now h2 has lost its best guard.
  14. 7...Qh4 · The queen joins the rook on the h-file. Mate on h2 or h1 is coming.
  15. 8.f3 · White makes room for the king to run via f2.
  16. 8...g3 · The pawn takes f2 away from the king and guards h2 for the queen.
  17. 9.d4 · There is no defense left. Every move here loses.
  18. 9...Qh2# · Checkmate on h2. The pawn on g3 protects the queen, and the king has no squares.

How to beat it

  1. 6.d4! · Leave the bait alone. Strike in the center while Black's pieces are far from home.
  2. 6...exd4 · Black takes the pawn, but the knight on g4 is still hanging in the air.
  3. 7.e5 · The e-pawn gains space and takes squares from Black's pieces. White is better and the h-file stays closed.

The story

The Fishing Pole gets its name from the picture it makes. Black's knight hops to g4, right next to White's castled king, and sits there looking free. The pawn on h5 behind it is the fishing pole: if White takes the bait with the h-pawn, Black recaptures toward the king and the h-file is suddenly open for the rook on h8.

It hides inside one of the most respected openings in chess, the Ruy Lopez, in its solid Berlin form, which makes it even sneakier. White has done nothing wrong, castles as the books say, and a few natural moves later the black queen arrives on h4 and mate lands on h2. Chess.com counts it among the ten best traps and calls it a fun one for blitz, and lesson videos call it one of the commonest traps for White to fall into.

The bait only hurts if you take it. White should not grab the knight at all. Strike in the center with d4 instead, while Black's knight is far from home, and the fishing trip ends with nothing in the bucket.

Sources: Chess.com: The 10 best chess traps · IM Andrey Ostrovskiy: Fishing Pole trap (video)

Verdict

Dubious · deadly only if White bites

More

Opening names and lines: Lichess chess-openings (CC0) · Not affiliated with Lichess.