Openingtrainer pitfall 3

It's time for traps again. This time there is no ‘bait’ in the position, but it is a matter of seeing which developing moves work and which one has a defect.

In the first example, White would like to place an extra pawn in the center with 1.e4. This seems to be possible, because this pawn is covered, isn't it? That's not quite right! There is a pin party and Black can take advantage with 1…Nxe4! White cannot capture this knight because his or own knight is in a pin. 

In the third example we see that Black must also continue to pay attention. An interesting preparatory move is 1…b6, the idea of which is to place the bishop on the long diagonal. This is clumsy because White suddenly takes action with the queen. Black’s king is in check and the bishop is under attack. A double attack! To make matters worse, Black's knight cannot get in, because the c6 square is no longer covered. Always be careful…

What do you have to do?

Look for moves that will improve your position, but beware of a trap!