Philidor Defense Traps

This page collects 8 real traps from the Philidor Defense. 4 of them end in checkmate. The mistake comes on move 5.4 on average, and the earliest one on move 4. Each trap has a board you can step through and a “test yourself” mode.

Philidor Defense traps by difficulty

Other openings

Sicilian Defense 28 Italian Game 22 Bird Opening 19 Ruy Lopez 19 Vienna Game 19 French Defense 17 Caro-Kann Defense 16 Indian Defense 16 English Opening 15 King's Gambit Declined 14 Bishop's Opening 13 Petrov's Defense 13 Alekhine Defense 12 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Accepted 12 Scotch Game 12 King's Gambit Accepted 10 Scandinavian Defense 10 Englund Gambit 8 Queen's Gambit Declined 7 Center Game 6 Grob Opening 6 Nimzowitsch Defense 6 Queen's Pawn Game 6 Trompowsky Attack 6 Van Geet Opening 6 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit 5 Elephant Gambit 5 Four Knights Game 5 King's Pawn Game 5 Owen Defense 5 Pirc Defense 5 Queen's Gambit Accepted 5 Benko Gambit 4 Dutch Defense 4 Grünfeld Defense 4 Nimzo-Indian Defense 4 Nimzo-Larsen Attack 4 Polish Opening 4 Queen's Indian Defense 4 Benoni Defense 3 Latvian Gambit 3 Old Indian Defense 3 Ponziani Opening 3 St. George Defense 3 Three Knights Opening 3 Borg Defense 2 Danish Gambit Accepted 2 Danish Gambit Declined 2 King's Gambit 2 King's Indian Defense 2 Latvian Gambit Accepted 2 Modern Defense 2 Rat Defense 2 Réti Opening 2 Tarrasch Defense 2 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense 2 Zukertort Opening 2 Benko Gambit Accepted 1 Benko Gambit Declined 1 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Declined 1 Mexican Defense 1 Rapport-Jobava System 1 Slav Defense 1

All opening traps

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Frequently asked questions

How many Philidor Defense traps are there?

Here you can study 8 real Philidor Defense traps. 4 end in checkmate and the rest win material or a clearly winning position.

Which Philidor Defense trap is the easiest to learn?

Start with the Rookie level traps listed first on this page — they are short and the mistake is easy to remember. Then move on to higher levels.