Petroff Defense Opening Traps

Introduction

The Petroff Defense, or sometimes known as the Russian Game, is an opening emerging after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6. Black plays symmetrically to White, and in this blog we will consider the lines where white takes the pawn on e5. Other lines are possible, the most common alternative being Nc3, hoping to enter into a Four or Three Knights game.

Position after 3. Nxe5, showing Black's main continuations.

Here I have highlighted Black's main replies. 3...d6 is the main line, and 3...Nxe4 is a less common alternative that is known for being slightly dubious. While also dubious, 3...Nc6, known as the Stafford Gambit, has a lot of venom and can get dangerous for white if handled inaccurately. I consider IM Eric Rosen to be the top expert in the Stafford Gambit, so do watch his videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eric+rosen+stafford) to learn more about those lines.
In this blog we will look first at 3...Nxe4 and then look at 3...d6, exploring common pitfalls that Black could fall into.

3...Nxe4 --- The Copycat Trap

Black continues to play symmetrically and captures the pawn on e4. White takes advantage of his extra tempo and seizes the open e file with Qe2, setting up x-ray vision on the black king through the 2 knights.

Here, Black's best try is to play Qe7, temporarily sacrificing the knight on e4, as after Qxe4 Black can attack the pinned knight with d6. The position gets interesting, but White will maintain a slight yet comfortable edge in these games. However, Black must be careful not to move the knight to f6 or d6, which is a common beginner mistake. Can you see how white can punish black for the inaccurate play?

White to play and win.

Yes, white pounces with Nc6+! which is a discovered check, while also attacking the black queen. Black is going to lose a queen for a knight, resulting in a completely winning position for white.

3...d6 Traps

While 3...d6 is the main line in the Petroff after 3...Nxe5, Black still has to play accurately. This trap involves a game played in 1988 between Alonso Zapata and Viswanathan Anand, and yes, Anand does fall into a 6 move opening trap. Apparently Anand was following a game that was played earlier that had the same continuation, yet White did not find the winning combination. Before I get too ahead of myself, let's see the actual moves in action.

Zapata retreats to f3, and Anand takes the pawn on e4, followed by Nc3 by Zapata.

This position has been reached over 5000 times according to the lichess masters databse, including games by Carlsen and Caruana. Black maintains an equal game by either trading on c3 or retreating the knight to f6. However, Anand makes a horrible blunder and plays Bf5??

According to the lichess database, only 1 game is present, which is the game in 1987 by Christiansen and Miles, and this is the game that Anand had looked at and had based his assessment of the move Bf5. In the 1987 game White failed to find the winning move, and the game ended in a draw. However, Zapata knew better, and he was able to find the winning blow. Can you find it as well?

White to play and win against Anand.

The Solution

If you found the move 6. Qe2! then great job! Similar to the last trap, we see the recurring theme of exploiting the e file with the queen, and this actually spells trouble for Anand now. His knight is pinned and attacked twice already now. Zapata is also threatening to play d3, winning the knight outright. \

As a follow-up, what if Anand plays 6...Qe7? This solves the problem on the e file right?

Yes, Zapata has the incredible 7. Nd5! up his sleeve, and due to the double attack on the Queen and on c7, Black must abandon the e file completely, after which d3 will win the knight. If 7...Qe6, then 8. Nxc7+ is a royal fork, winning the queen.

Anand actually resigned after 6. Qe2, as he was going to lose at least a piece by force. Funnily enough, he stated that for a few days people thought he made a quick draw, and because in 1988 there wasn't widespread use of the Internet, people had to wait for the game to be published or shown in order to actually see the result.

Conclusion

That brings us to the end of another blog. Hope you learned a few tricks and traps in the Petroff game for White, and if you ever spot an opportunity to get a quick win, be sure not to miss out on it. See you in a future blog!