A lesson about the Mortimer trap, also known as the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Ne7?! This sets a trap, the capture of the black pawn on e5 may be very tempting for White.
Noah’s Ark Trap is not just an opening trap. The name is used for a lot of openings in which the white bishop is trapped on b3 by black pawns. Most of the games that contain this trap can be found in the Ruy Lopez.
As a kind of followup on the lesson about the minor promotion I have added this lesson on the Lasker Trap in the Albin Countergambit. The underpromotion plays an important role in this trap and probably contributes to the success of it.
The Albin Countergambit starts with the moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 after [...]
In most chess databases you can also find some very strange games. As an example I have searched for some early stalemates in the the ICOfY database and I have found some stalemates at the 12th move in which all pieces are still on the board.
I think that all these games are prearranged draws, but [...]
Minor promotion or underpromotion is the promotion of a pawn to a knight, bishop or rook. The player that has moved the pawn to the promotion square has to decide which piece to select: a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight. It can not remain a pawn and according to the FIDE rules [...]