Trap in the 1...d5 Trompowsky

[ChessCholo]

A guy did the Trompowsky on me (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5) so I went 2...Nd5 3. e4 h6 4. Bd2 Nb6 5. d5 e6 6. c4 exd5 7. exd5 d6 8. Qe2+ Be7 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 O-O 12. Qg3 Bf6 13. Bxh6 Qe7+ 14. Be3 Bxb2 15. Be2 Bxa1 16. O-O Be5 17. f4 Bb2 18. Nd2 N8d7 19. Bd3 Rae8 20. Rf3 Nc5 21. Bf2 Nxd3 22. Rxd3 Qe2 23. Nf1 Nxc4 24. Re3 Nxe3 25. Bxe3 Rxe3 26. Nxe3 Bd4 27. Kh2 Bxe3 28. f5 f6 29. h4 Re8 30. Qh3 Qe1 31. h5 Bg1+ 32. Kh1 Be3+ 33. Kh2 Qg1+ 34. Kg3 Bf2+ 35. Kf3 Re3+ 36. Kg4 Rxh3 and he gave up ay.

[Hereson0]

Sweet!

[SquirrellOFC]

The first time I played the Trompovsky attack:

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 e6 3. Bxd8 and resigns. Lmfao. They premoved, but it was 5 minute blitz. XD

[JohnnySkillish]

Great Trap!!!

[chicopato34]

@ejhqbc 

[daemonowner]

Ouch.

[majorsromo]

awesome vid mr shark

[mcpartridgeboy]

learning chess traps is bad for your chess

[MrRicewife]

@mcpartridgeboy Not really. You need to know your traps so you can defend yourself as well.

[AjedrezEnEspanol]

1. d4 d5 2.Bg5 isn't actually the Trompowsky, but the Levitsky Attack.

1. d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is Trompowsky. Just a tecnicality ;)

Great Vids! hope you post some more!

[chessic4]

@AjedrezEnEspanol

This has been called the Pseudo-Trompowski, The Chameleon, The Queen's Bishop Attack, the Lewitsky (Levitsky), the Hodgson Attack, and probably other names. James Paskett calls it "The Queen's Bishop Attack" in his book on it. Like many openings, it has various names, and I'm not sure any source can claim to have a definitive name for it. The problem with the other names is that almost no one recognizes them. Trompowski gets the idea across and the two usually transpose.

[KillaNinja0]

look, the thing about c5 is that you have to realise its purpose. the agression assosiated with it is to gain AGRESSION, not to play Qa5+!? and defeat the purpose. its to gain quick development with Nc6 and take the pawn back when everything is ready.

[johnnyklever]

2...c5!? by black is not a blunder!

-Source: 2200+ player who plays this opening (for White!)

[BillG37]

at 1:15 after white takes the pawn, my computer responds with Nf6. My computer is tough to beat. Does this stop the trap completely? It blocks the bishop, and also prevents white's knight from going to E4 at 1:52.

[BillG37]

2:03 After Nd6+ black has to move his king... instead of taking the bishop, you also have a nice Q/R fork by taking the pawn at F7. I guess it's deciding whether you want a bishop for free, or a rook & pawn for a knight. I do love this trap though. So many possibilities. I find it very frustrating when my opponent has so much development, it's nearly impossible to escape. Luckily I usually don't allow them to have it that easy. I'll trade evenly if I think it's getting too dangerous.

[saseasucks]

wow dint know there was such a opening trap with so many lines which stll leads to a disadvantage in black

[baeronautics]

it is a verty instructional video very good

[burjitsu]

Actually, 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 is the Levitsky Opening. The Trompowsky is 1d4 Nf6 2.Bg5. There's a difference.

[Rafabomb]

this is not a trompowsky fatty

[rookman64]

thanks a lot for the trap info...I play 1...d5 and the Tromp as white but as black I totally overlooked that white can play 2. Bg5 anyway instead of 2. c4

[Thewakibobot]

you are damn nubs././

[Roxz80]

What about f6 to counter bg5?

[baeronautics]

@Roxz80 nobody usually plat bg5 because they concentrate in developnment in the opening

[1981Myname]

Somebody help me out... at 2:13 he says he takes the bishop and than black resigned. Why doesn't the knight on d6 take the pawn on f7 and double-attack queen and rook? What's so critical about taking that bishop?

[zwyssigm]

F7 is controlled by the king, so white would lose a knight. Taking the bishop is critical for the material lead.

[astudyofeverything]

@1981Myname Because the free piece is more valuable than the trade.

[pedronetomoreira]

Nice analysis, congrats!

[MrEmanuel1223]

very good, i will use this ....

[lobbylock]

why would black play pawn to C5 in the first place? doesnt make much sense.

[chipdouglas42]

@lobbylock It doesn't make sense, but it actually happens a lot

[kingtipz]

@lobbylock queens gambit

[973bricks973]

holy shit thats a nasty trap to get caught into. Thanks for sharing

[AntPSalinas]

you the man.

[MrEmanuel1223]

nice, i am going 2 play it...have a book on it

[rich187113]

The welling variation is nice to play against this as black. 1.d4 d5 Bg5 Bg4!

[rich187113]

That's the Levitsky Attack not the Trompowsky attack. Trompowsky is d4 Nf6 Bg5. The classic Trompowsky goes d4 Nf6 Bg5 e6.

[Zelrio28]

@rich187113 I was about to say the same. I hope everyone here sees this isn't the Trompowsky.

[rich187113]

Yes, the Trompowsky goes 1.d4 Nf6 Bg5, and white can play a few responces. This is just the Levitsky attack or queens bishop attack. I am currently experimenting with 1.d4, Nf6, Bg5, e6, Bxf6 normally white would play e4 or Nf3. I could maybe send you a PGN of one of my games in this line 1.d4 Nf3 Bg5 e6 Bxf6.

[TheWidowmaker9569]

yeah very good thx

[RandomVariabull]

Isn't this really the Queen's Bishop Attack and not the Tromp tho?

[RandomVariabull]

Nice job!

[ybravura]

I am a complete novice in chess, and so I needed a solid opening to use against my computer's chess app., which has been kicking my butt on a regular basis.

As soon as I brought out the Bishop to g5, the computer played Knight to f6, thus ending the attack.

Do you opponents not use their knights?

[naruto5114]

look up the queen's gambit, its my favorite opening.  i am only 13 but i am really good at chess

[YourBetterOffAsian]

at 2:16 what happens if the black king goes to d7 and Nxf7 forking queen and rook instead of taking the bishop

would that be better? i dont know

[raptriforcee]

I wonder if h6 is the best possible response to Nd6.

[UnholyMasterOfMetal]

Nice trap. Thanks.

[DeepGlue555]

thats a nice trap

[AUInnocent]

Awesome video... thanks man

[TheLastGinypig]

Realy nice trap and good followup explanation on the moves to come.

[Away2Write]

Excellent trap. I play the Levitsky frequently, though apparently I'm alone in calling it by that name. Perhaps you should write a book on the 1. d4 2. Bg5 systems. Hodgson and Adams have certainly provided enough games to study.

[otuna72]

Chess is art !!! King of games

[Aristotelezz]

To me this is one of the nicest trap is chess! Love this one and I'll try it to.

[NaturalistJuris]

Not even if black plays well, but if black has read the back cover of "my system" white is in trouble. This "trap" is simply bad play. Its like claiming 1. e4 f3 2. d3 g4 3. Qh5# is a trap.

Black can equalize by playing almost any other move than the ones shown. Is this for ELO's of 1200???

[Kestis05]

Hmm 2... c6 it's blacks best move. Usually if u re playing correctly for black it a little trouble for white. I dont recommend to play debuts like u showed and u re showing in this debut, because u can get a bad position if opponent plays correctly. Hmm i dont say its bad debut, but no + for white if black plays good :)

[shaikhnbake]

Your videos are awesome!! I've been watching them since '06.

[kenyudbzto]

Wow, fun. The only problem is that the person I play most of the time is smarter than doing 2... c5

Anyone have an idea after 2... f6?

[Away2Write]

3. Bh4 is good. The intent is to nestle the bishop on g3. Arguably its best square.

[ISSDUC]

nice and thanks

[rich187113]

Awesome.

[cruor15]

error h3=h6

[cruor15]

it is more natural for black to play pawn h3= trap is ruined

[Fullywtf]

What do you do if they do H6, and if you move to H4, G5?

[J4kez]

nice trick :) guess I'll go play Bg5 vs 2...d5 from now on

[windmill021]

i havn't read any of the other comments, cuz i'm lazy, but at 3:43 instead of moving the queen back to c7 can't the queen move to a3, threatening the fork at c3?

[J4kez]

Qd8#

[ProjectUranium]

what happens if there is no c5? i mean i play d5 sometimes but i avoid c5..so what happens with the misplaced bishop? something like.. d4-d5, bg5-g6?

[lloque]

Nd6 is good, but better is Rd8 with a double attack.

[Toxie207]

Maybe

[amigoamlo]

its boring only if blacks play h6 your bishop is cooked!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ProjectUranium]

Bh4?

[LordConan11]

what chess engine is being used? where can i get ti?

[edmalikin]

Thanks for your video. But I didn't understand: in your middle stage of the video you told that the black queen gets lost. I didn't see how. Can you explain it please.

[ProjectUranium]

he says black cannot capture the knight because he loses the queen, of course black will play Kd7 - Nxf7

[centercounter]

Incorrect. The Torre and Trompowsky are two distinct openings. 1. d4 Nf6 Bg5 is the normal Trompowsky, while the Torre delays it one move. The two may transpose, but the Torre is, more often, played like a Colle with the c1 Bishop not hemmed in, while the Trompowsky usually involves either a rapid exchange at f6 followed by Pe4 or Black's Ne4 with complicated lines.

[olimpicsa]

excellent!

[idlenessss]

thats funny, this like a reversed QGA...very similar tactics occur in the QGA but white has to go really wrong since of course hes a move ahead. Anyway i never studied the tomp myself, but i never had problems with it, black can simply sorta play normal moves and turn the game into some grunfeld or qga (my 2 favorite defenses vs d4) where the bishop on g5 is not optimally placed.

[chronicTheOne]

Why not:

Black 3.f7 f6 at 51seconds?

to threat the bishop and not lose the other pawn

[blunderking]

this is also trompowsky. its the pseudo-variation if i remember right. and its not a opening that is ruined with f6 as someone think.its a very sound an good opening even at gmlevel with the added bonus of many oppourtunities for black to step very wrong:)

[spaghettionetime]

u talk about this as though it is a main line which it definitely is not.

[ddstar]

play f6 and ruin your entire plan.

[Robotman42]

It's not a plan; it's a trap.

[ddstar]

Ya, but im saying its very risky.

[dorielementary]

That just opens up black's kingside. f6 is a poor move.

[ddstar]

rates better on my engine..?

[Lagkagemanden]

Amazing ! 5/5

[Soupstorm]

That was impressive

[fordy7845]

when playing the trompowski when u play bg5 why not reply with h6????!!!!

[kryshnatz]

That is one possible move to make for black....what follows is: h6 Bxf6 Qxf6 e4

[MAfr3ak]

nice, but what is the most common mainline?

[fordy7845]

what if f6 . have u ever played against if so please post vid. nice one.

[dorielementary]

f6 is bad.

[rbq123]

most player would play f6

[xxfizzlexx]

yea thats what i was thinking. it doesn't make sense to play c5

[cmcgrath1O]

break the centre is the idea, taking a centre pawn for c pawn is advantage. This is the logic

[alwayz4keepnitreal]

Very good in your love in chess.. Please keep making videos..

[inventionoffire]

mrchessskills, this is a good video and your comments clearly show that your "chess skills" fall short. 2 Bg5 is an offbeat opening (closely related to the Tromp) that allows Black to equalise without problems with correct play (easiest is the c6/Bf5/Qb6 plan) but that is not a reason to criticise perfectly good analysis of a line that is, indeed, quite bad for Black.

[inventionoffire]

I've won dozens of games with this line and now, to my surprise, I found it on YouTube! Good job! I just wanted to mention that Nd4+ instead of Nd6 is forced mate after Kd5 c4+ Ke5 f4+ exf3 Nxf3+ Ke4 Bd3#, while Kd7 loses to Bb5+ and now either Nc6 Nxc6+ Kc7 Bd8# or Kc7 Bf4+ Bd6 (Kd8 Nc6++ Ke8 Rd8 #) Bf8 (of course also possible is Bxb8 and Nc6+) with the double threat of Bxg7 and Ne6#, winning totally.

[badjaeaux]

you are a true master xD

[httiiggeerr0070]

thanks a lot Michael!

[mrchessskills]

lol, this is not even the tromp, the tromp starts with 1.nf6 you moron, and lol i was giggling over this video because its so bad and so slow and boring, funny that you was trying to sound like you was good at chess but your actually shit.

[cmcgrath1O]

its nice video u cunt

[youvev54]

Very nice, thanks for posting!

[rbq123]

omg thanks for the video, its great. Nice trap. 5 stars! what if they play pawn to f6 though

[StarICIraft]

what if he moves pawn to block the bishop

[urmomiscoolinbed]

nice!

[gmesncomps]

awesome video

[Capachm]

I'm not sure this is "not well known". Any rated player SHOULD have had knowledge of this attack and also how to counter. I think I learned it when I was about 12 or 13. But, good job anyways :)

[cmcgrath1O]

it isnt well known, my elo is 1650 and ive just learnt it. My friend is rated 1850 and he has never read a book or watched videos on chess and would not know of this. Better players can counter this attack without the knowledge though

[ivolol]

Also a possibility I've just noticed is the alternative bishop kicker, h6, which looks far better than f6 (doesn't open that diagonal), doesn't lose a tempo, and black then has the open possiblity of kicking the bishop off it's line again with .. g5.

So it would be nice if you were to post a video dealing with 2. ... f6 and 2. ... h6 to support this opening.

Otherwise, it looks extremely nice, especially when c5 is played! Nice video posts!

[ivolol]

Yes in accordance with Dessan01, there is a big hole left out of the opening as of how to to meet the immediate 2. .... f6

It puts this whole video out of relevance, so it would be extremely helpful if you were to post another dealing with the variation.

I notice that f6 does leave the fateful h5-e8 diagonal open on the king, so hopefully there might be some good play on that too...

[kenshinruroni]

the video was fine,but isnt this called the levitsky attack?

[duckafro]

interesting

[kenshinruroni]

good one!!!

[Dessan01]

I do have to say having tried this a lot online recently, 9 times out of 10 black just kicks the Bishop with 2... f6, so it does kind of render all this useless then.

But I am interested in learning more about the Trompowsky - at the moment I'm studying the Ruy Lopez, but I might order a book on this afterwards :-)

[irresistablejewel]

It is the Levitsky (or queens bishop attack), which differs from the Trompowsky, in that black has not yet played a knight to f6. After 3. dc black can play 3 ...f6 and 4. ... e5 (as in Hodgson-Sokolov), which is impossible with a knight on f6. Informator 1965-2001 gives no wins for black; the large centre is undermined with e4 and it appears black is one or two tempi down in a reversed queens-gambit accepted. Qa5+ is the blunder.

[MadJimmy1944]

Brillant

[gilman666]

thanks

[nattarefrosten]

Ehm.. is that not the Levitsky attack? I thought that the Trompowsky was.. 1d4 Nf3 2Bg5

[leratluci]

if black plays: 2.H6 ?

[jeupham]

Sadly for White, 2..h6 then c6 and then Db6 is fine for Black.

[88ichabod88]

This worked perfectly! I had my oponent choked for space by move 10 :)

Keep them coming!!!

[jerxse]

well qiet nice but....... >_<

[Chessboy]

The point is 2...c5 is not a blunder - its been played by the likes of Sokolov, van Wely, and numerous other GM's. There are many other ways to play other than 3...Qa5 + such as 3...f6 and 3...h6. Check it out on Chessbase.

[mjshark]

No, the point is that you said, "All Plagiarised from gary Lane's DVD..." which is not true.

[Chessboy]

yeah the fact that theres misleading analysis isnt the point at all - of course not !!!! Pahahaha

[dasikalyan]

in your opening moves, Bg5 what if the pawn to f6 threatens the Bishop? looks like the bishop played a pivotal role in the later parts of your video.

[Chessboy]

All Plagiarised from gary Lane's DVD on the Pseudo-Trompowsky.

[mjshark]

The var. on this video is my own (with an assist from Danny Berman who I first showed it to). Playing my way with 10. Nd6 is MUCH better than Lane's recommendation (In fact, I just now had Junior 10.1 check the position and the comp gives 10.Nd6 as its 1st choice and an eval. of +6.65, & doesn't even mention Lane's move. -Michael

[mjshark]

No, you're wrong Chessboy. Lane's DVD incorrectly tells you to play 10.Rd8?! & after the forced 10...Nd7 (anything else drops a piece) to play 11.Rxc8?! Rxc8 12. Nxa7+ Kc7 13. Nxc8 Kxc8 when he incorrectly says that White is up 2 pawns and has a won game, when actually White is only up 1 pawn (weird that he makes this simple "counting" error but he does).

[iceheart920]

5 stars without even watching the video and it was worth it

[lachessleague]

Awesome video, very well presented.  Thank you and keep them coming.

I just played somebody online and they fell into it. After I played Nd6, they played f6 and I played Bb5+, Kc7 followed by Ne8 checkmate.

[cafox24]

great stuff...like always..id like to see some more stuff

[asdee01]

I've played this move several times and no one's every used c5. They just dive my pawn back witheither h6 or f6. What to do.

[Tiwaking]

That was great! Hopefully I dont fall for this one day

[Gebonner]

What if some moved rook pawn up when you played bishop out early, then bishop drops back, then knight pawn up.

[Gebonner]

Best chess lecture videos are by him, I like when he breaks down games.

[jsniper1]

Nice Trap, keep the videos coming, I learn a lot from you =]

[Thatwasnotme]

Great to see a new one!

[JBT777]

Nice, thanks for the vid! I'm gonna try it on a friend of mine.

[GreenCastleBlock]

Followup to my previous comment: There are ~100 games in ChessBase with 3.dxc5. White wins most of them. There are no games where Black responds 3...d4.

Looking at this move with my engine, the best two moves for White are 4.e3 and 4.Nf3. It is not clear that Black can equalize against either of those moves, but he will hold out longer than the guy in this video :-)

[GreenCastleBlock]

Nice presentation. You would think that 2...c5 is too aggressive, because Black is playing a Queen's Gambit a tempo down where White's extra move is Bg5.

I have a question. After 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 c5?! 3.dxc5, you mention 3...Nc6 and 3...Qa5+ which are both bad.

If I were in this position I would consider 3...d4, which prevents Nc3 and prepares to win the pawn back with ...Qd5, expand in the center with ...f6,...e5, or just develop with ...Nc6.

Thoughts?

[Jaques90]

In fact 3...Nc6 isn't a bad move.

3...Nc6 4.Nc3? d4 5.Ne4 Qd5! and black is already clearly better.

[rown23]

good point

[dilbertfungoing]

very tricky. :o) It shows just how fast you can blunder in an opening you don't understand.

[Nintendo2k]

I really enjoyed that trap. That was so damn clever.

Hopefully I'll get to use it against some dude who hasn't seen this video :)

Thank you for sharing.

[swampfoxx81]

very nice trap! I'll be using that one for sure.

[mjshark]

When I say "Bishop to b5" at 1:58, I obviously mean "Bishop to f5", since that's where the Bishop went! - Michael