Staunton Gambit: The Pinned Knight
Spot the mistake, then find the punishment
Starting positionWhite to move
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The temptation
4...e5 is the move that springs the trap. ...e5 aims for a broad centre and attacks d4. Black assumes the knight on f6 can move away if White's pawn advances.
Why it works
5.dxe5 attacks Nf6. The g5 bishop pins that knight to Qd8, so moving it would cost the queen. In the illustrated ...d6 reply, 6.exf6 gxf6 7.Bxf6 leaves White a knight ahead with damaged black kingside pawns. The error is weakening the central support of a pinned piece with ...e5, not simply accepting the Staunton pawn or playing a normal developing move.
Attack a pinned piece with a pawn
After dxe5, the e5 pawn attacks f6. Bg5 prevents the knight from moving without exposing Black's queen on d8.
How to avoid it
Develop with 4...Nc6 or 4...e6 rather than ...e5. Before opening the centre, check whether a pinned knight can actually answer a pawn attack.
The opening behind it
Learn the sound version of this line and the trick stops being tempting.