101 Chess Opening Traps

by Steve Giddins

The only thing more humiliating than losing a game quickly is to lose a game quickly to a known opening trap. On the other hand, the easy point scored by the trapper is a great confidence booster, and allows the winner a good rest before the next game in a competition.

This book shows that no-one should feel safe from an opponent armed to the teeth with cunning traps. Steve Giddins (who lived in Russia for a time) has collected his material from a wide variety of sources, some not normally available in the West.

Genres: Chess

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Devadeep Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a comprehensive set of opening traps and was highly recommended by a 2000+ rating player I know well, I found it a bit hard to read. I will attempt this again, perhaps when I have lots of practice and am closer to being an experienced/expert at the game. But for the time being, read only if you are extremely serious about becoming a pro.

[Vince · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mostly short master games decided when one of the players fell into a trap in the opening phase. Not much here useful for improving one's play however.

[Carl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply a compilation of traps that occurred in professional games with little to no discussion of the ideas that led to the result.