chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, the Elephant Trap is a faulty attempt by

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

to win a

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

in a popular variation of the

Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...

. The earliest recorded occurrence of the trap seems to be the game

Karl Mayet Carl (Karl) Mayet (11 August 1810, Berlin – 18 May 1868, Stettin, now Szczecin) was a German chess master. He was one of the most original of the Berlin Pleiades (the seven stars of German chess). In 1839, Mayet defeated Jozsef Szen in a mat ...

–

Daniel Harrwitz Daniel Harrwitz (22 February 1821 – 2 January 1884) was a German chess master. Harrwitz was born in Breslau (Wrocław) in the Prussian Province of Silesia. Harrwitz's correct birth and death dates (22 February 1821 and 2 January 1884 respectiv ...

, Berlin 1848.K. Mayet vs. D. Harrwitz, Berlin 1848

Chessgames.com Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one pla ...

The trap

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 :This

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

sequence usually indicates that Black intends to play the Cambridge Springs Defense with 5.Nf3 c6 6.e3 Qa5, but it can also lead to the Orthodox Defense if Black plays ...Be7. (The Cambridge Springs had not yet been invented at the time of the Mayet–Harrwitz game.) Black has set a trap; if White tries to win a pawn by ... 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nxd5 (first diagram) :White thinks that, because the black

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

on f6 is pinned to the

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, it cannot be moved. 6... Nxd5 7. Bxd8 Bb4+ (second diagram) :Black regains the queen as White has only one legal move to get out of

check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld'' Games and sports * Check (chess), a thr ...

. 8. Qd2 Bxd2+ :Harrwitz played the equally good 8...Kxd8, intending 9...Bxd2+. 9. Kxd2 Kxd8 :Black comes out a ahead.

References

Bibliography

* {{Wiktionary, elephant trap 1848 in chess Chess openings Chess traps

The trap

See also

References

Bibliography