Oct
4

Mortimer Trap

In this lesson I will show you the Mortimer trap, also known as the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense.








White to move

Mortimer_Trap

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

( Today 4.O-O is played far more frequently )

4… Ne7?!

This is the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense. It’s not a good move, but it sets a trap and the capture of the black pawn on e5 may be very tempting for White.

( 4… d6 5.c3 is a more normal continuation )

( Even after 5.O-O Ng6 6.d4 c6 7.dxe5 Nxe4 Black is not without chances. )

5… c6! 6.Nc4

( 6.Ba4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5 )

( 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.Bc4 Ng6 )

( 6.Nxf7 Probably White’s best move 6...Kxf7 7.Ba4 )

( 6.Bc4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5 )

6… d6! 7.Ba4 b5 This move forks the white bishop and knight and wins a piece


 
The next lesson is about the Immortal Game, but you may also be interested in the previous lesson about the Kieninger Trap.

Tags:

RedditFacebookStumbleuponDiggDel.icio.us Chess lessons, Intermediate Subscribe to RSS feed

4 Responses to “Mortimer Trap”

  1. Michael Goeller
    October 10th, 2009 at 2:33 am

    I have written about The Mortimer Trap on my blog (or go direct to the analysis page).

  2. Chess Teacher
    October 10th, 2009 at 8:46 am

    Nice addition
    I’ll see that you describe the variation with 6…d6 7.e5?!

  3. Anonymous
    October 19th, 2009 at 1:45 am

    Odd, are you sure it’s really a hook with the knight? what if the “hooked” white knight moves to d6?

  4. Chess Teacher
    October 19th, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    @Anonymous

    After 8.Nxd6+ the game probably continues with 8…Qxd6 9.Bb3 Ng6 which is even better for Black

Leave a Reply

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>