Opening traps › Philidor Defense
Légal's Mate
A trap for White in the Philidor Defense. Black's natural-looking Bxd1 gives White mate.
The moves
How it works
The pin on the f3 knight is not real. Nxe5 offers the queen, and taking it walks into Bxf7+ and Nd5#.
What it wins
White gets mate.
How Black avoids it
It looks harmless, but White plays Nxe5! anyway: if you take the queen, Bxf7+ and Nd5# is mate. The safe move is Nf6.
Practise the Philidor Defense as WhiteThe trainer plays the moves real players at your rating choose, and springs this trap when they do.