Fishing Pole (chess)

The Fishing Pole is a chess opening trap most common in the Ruy Lopez (especially in the Berlin Defence and Exchange Variations), however, the trap can be used in any opening or in the middle of the game. Its broadest definition is a move that sacrifices a knight or bishop on the g-file to open up the h-file, after the opponent has short castled and before the player deploying the trap, usually Black, has short castled. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Exchange Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6

Black takes with 4...dxc6 to open the diagonal for the bishop but doubled their pawns, weakening their position in the end game.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5!

5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5! (see diagram)

Black pins the knight to the queen by playing 5... Bg4. White tries to kick the bishop back by playing 6. h3 but Black plays 6... h5!. This move gives the Fishing Pole its name. The Black bishop on the g4 square is the bait and the h5 pawn is the hook.

7. hxg4?? hxg4

A blunder . White should have played 7. d3 instead, allowing them to block the queen from moving to 9... Qh4 with 9. Ng5 after 8. hxg4. After 7... hxg4 White will likely make one of two possible blunders :

8. Nxe5?? Qh4! 9. f4 g3 10. Qh5 Rxh5 11. Rf3 Qh1#

After taking the e5 pawn White is 3 points up of material but checkmate is now inevitable in 4 or less moves after 8... Qh4!.

8. Nh2?? Qh4! 9. Re1 Qxh2+ 10. Kf1 Qh1+ 11. Ke2 Qxg2 12. d3 Qf3+ 13. Kd2 Qxf2+

While this blunder avoids checkmate it does lead to the loss of a knight and two pawns while the White king is left exposed after walking to the queenside of the board.

Berlin Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6

The Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez was made famous in the Classical World Chess Championship 2000, by challenger Vladimir Kramnik who used it against champion Garry Kasparov. ^[4] It threatens the pawn on e4 and gets Black ready to castle.

4. O-O

The most common reply to the Berlin Defense. The king is protected by moving it to the corner and the rook prepares to be moved to e1 square if the knight takes e4.

4... Ng4?? 5. h3

A blunder as the knight is moved away from the center and after 5. h3 it will be kicked back to the f6 square leading to a lost tempo giving the White knight the chance to take the e5 pawn with the line 5... Nf6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Nxe5.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4?? 5. h3 h5

5... h5 (see diagram) ^[5]

This move give the Fishing Pole its name. The Black knight on the g4 square is the bait and the h5 pawn is the hook.

6. hxg4?? hxg4 7. Nh2?? Qh4

Luckily, most players take the bait with a line with two blunders in it. After Qh4 checkmate in 11 or 6 moves is inevitable with the lines:

8. f4 g3 9. Rf3 Qxh2+ 10. Kf1 Nd4 11. Ke1 Qxg2 12. Rf1 Rh1 13. Qe2 Nxe2 14. Rxh1 Nd4 15. Nc3 Qxh1+ 16. Bf1 g2 17. Kf2 gxf1=Q+ 18. Ke3 Nxc3#

Checkmate in 11 moves with two queens.

8. f3 g3 9. Rf2 Nd4 10. Kf1 gxh2 11. Ke1 h1=Q+ 12. Bf1 Qxf1+ 13. Kxf1 Qh1#

Checkmate in 6 moves with the queen and the knight.

8. Re1 Qxh2+ 9. Kf1 Nd4 10. f4 g3 11. Bxd7+ Bxd7 12. Qh5 Qh1+ 13. Qxh1 Rxh1#

Checkmate in 6 moves with the rook and the knight.

History

The earliest known examples of the trap is during the mid game Johannes Zukertort vs Simon Winawer at the 1883 London Tournament (see diagram right). The chess master Johannes Zukertort won the game. ^[6]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1. d4 d5 2. e3 Bf5 3. Nf3 e6 4. Be2 Bd6 5. O-O Nf6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. c5 Bc7 9. b4 a6 10.a4 Ng4 11.h3 h5

Move 12 of Game 8 of the World Chess Championship 2023 between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren used the trap (see diagram left). ^[7]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 d6 7. Ne2 c5 8. Ng3 Nc6 9. Ra2 b6 10. e4 Ba6 11. Bg5 h6 12. h4!

References

1. Ippolito, Dean (19 July 2022). Tricks, Tactics, and Tips in the Chess Opening Practical Lessons for Ambitious Improvers. New in Chess. pp. Chapter 8. ISBN   9789493257436 . Retrieved 5 September 2023.
2. "Fishing Pole Trap". THE CHESSWEBSITE. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
3. "Time to lure the fish!! Fishing Pole Trap". chess.com. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
4. "2000 Kramnik – Kasparov : World Chess Championship". www.mark-weeks.com. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
5. Murugan, Karthik (30 December 2020). Legal Attack. Archway Publishing. p. 65. ISBN   9781480897229.
6. "Johannes Zukertort vs Simon Winawer". chessgames.com. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
7. "Ding drops crucial victory as Nepomniachtchi maintains lead in title match". FIDE . Retrieved 17 September 2023.