Opening Traps/know them from both sides/B01/You play White

Scandinavian: the Portuguese e-File Pin

Give back the pawn and two more to open the e-file, and the natural Be3 walks into a pin it cannot survive.

Coachedanswers the move you actually played

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Stockfish+0.36

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Variations2 of 3

The e-file pinFoundation11 moves Sidestepping it: 5.g4as WhiteFoundationThe 1.e4 player's chair. Chase the bishop a second time before Black has the moves to open lines, hold d5 with pieces instead of taking more pawns, and keep the extra one.8 moves Deep dive: collecting the bishopStructure14 moves

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

StartBefore the first move

The starting position. White moves first, and that single tempo is the whole reason opening theory exists.

The moves in the text are buttons. Press one and the board beside it shows the position.

The idea in one paragraph

In the Portuguese Variation, , Black lets White keep the d5-pawn and offers more, to open lines while White's kingside pieces are still at home. After White is two pawns up, and the natural puts an undefended bishop on the e-file in front of its own king: ...Bb4+, ...Re8 and ...Qxd4 collect it. White's way out is , which keeps a game, or better , which chases the bishop before Black can open anything.

The pawn structure

No structure to speak of: by move eight the e- and f-files are open and White's king is still on e1. The whole trap is one file: the e-file, with an e8-rook at one end, the white king at the other, and whatever White puts between them.

The plans

♔ White’s plans

Chase the bishop before Black opens lines: , and hold d5 with the c3-knight rather than taking on e6.
If you do take the gambit pawns, develop with : it covers d4 a second time and puts nothing on the e-file.
With the king on e1, never leave an undefended piece on the e-file when an enemy rook can reach it.

♚ Black’s plans

Play for development, not for the pawn: ...Bf5, ...e6 and ...Nc6 bring every piece out while White's kingside is still at home.
After , aim everything at the e-file: ...Bb4+ to drive a piece onto c3, ...Re8 to pin, and ...Qxd4 once the defender of d4 is pinned.
Against , the trap is gone: retreat to g6, and play for ...e6 and ...c5 a pawn down.

Traps and things that lose games

The e-file pin

and the pinned bishop falls. The cure: , or earlier.

Its Scandinavian neighbour, from the other chair

Timman's knight, where a black knight on d5 and a careless ...b6 lose a piece.

Scandinavian players who like 2...Nf6 and want a sharp line with a real sting in it. And 1.e4 players, who meet the Portuguese more often than they expect and need to know which move order keeps the extra pawn.

Your learning path: Scandinavian: the Portuguese e-File Pin

Intermediate

One gambit, one file: spring the pin as the Scandinavian player, and keep the extra pawn as White.

FoundationOne sitting
Goal. Know the gambit's move order and the one move that ruins it.
- Black's order: ...Bf5, ...e6, ...Nc6, and ...Kxf7. Every move develops or opens a line.
- The trap: 8.Be3? Bb4+ 9.Nc3 Re8 10.Qd2 Qxd4!
- From White's chair: 5.g4! first, and 8.Ne2 if you have already taken the pawns.
DrillDrill the pin as Black, then the sidestep as White. Then set up the position after 7...Kxf7 and name every white piece that can reach the e-file.
Common mistakeSpending moves to win the pawns back as Black. The compensation is development and the e-file; every pawn move that is not a lever gives White time to castle.
Move on whenYou can play the trap from memory and say, from either chair, what 8.Ne2 does that 8.Be3 does not.
StructureAfter the Scandinavian chapter
Goal. Play the endgame the trap leaves you.
- The deep dive: White castles long, ...Rxe3 takes the bishop anyway, and the reason the engine prefers Black although the pawns are even.
- Doubling rooks on the open e-file, and the split c-pawns as targets.
DrillPlay the deep-dive position against an engine from Black's side until the rooks' activity turns into won material.
Common mistakeTrading a rook for nothing. Black's whole advantage is two active rooks against White's undeveloped kingside; keep them.
Move on whenYou win White's loose queenside pawns without letting White's last pieces develop with tempo.

Whose games to study

The Scandinavian chapter on this site covers 2...Nf6 and the Portuguese in full. Every evaluation here comes from Stockfish at depth twenty.

What to learn after this

The Scandinavian Defence course, and Timman's knight, the trap White sets against the same defence.