The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is an offbeat reply to the Italian where Black plays the strange-looking 3…Nd4 and dares White to be greedy. Legend says Joseph Henry Blackburne won shillings off amateurs with it in the 1800s. The line is unsound — but if White grabs both the e5-pawn and the f7-pawn, Black mates with …Nf3#.
After 3…Nd4, if White snatches with 4.Nxe5 and then plays the greedy 5.Nxf7, Black ignores the fork and plays …Qxg2, …Qxe4+, and finishes with …Nf3# on the trapped king.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!? offers the e5-pawn and leaves the d4-knight hanging. The tempting 4.Nxe5 grabs the pawn but allows 4…Qg5!, double-attacking the e5-knight and the g2-pawn. The losing move is 5.Nxf7?? (ply 9), forking Black's queen and rook — but it's a mirage: Black plays 5…Qxg2, hitting the rook on h1 and threatening …Qxe4+. After 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2, the e2-bishop is pinned and can't truly cover f3, so 7…Nf3# is checkmate — the knight on f3 gives check, the king has no flight square, and nothing can capture or block. White's two captured pawns were worthless against the mating net.
5. Nxf7 — 5.Nxf7?? (ply 9) is the move that loses. Forking the queen on g5 and the rook on h8 looks like winning material, and a greedy player grabs it instantly — but it ignores Black's own threats around the white king. White had to play 5.Bxf7+! first, checking the king and deflecting before Black gets going; even better, White should never have taken on e5 at all.
Good players don't take the bait. The clean refutation of 3…Nd4 is simply 4.Nxd4 exd4 (or 4.c3, or 4.O-O), leaving White a comfortable pawn up with no tricks. If you do play the risky 4.Nxe5 and meet 4…Qg5, the one saving move is 5.Bxf7+! (check first), not 5.Nxf7. As a rule: when your opponent leaves a piece hanging in the opening, check what they're threatening before you swallow it.
No. After the correct 4.Nxd4 (or 4.c3 / 4.O-O), White is simply better and Black has nothing for the lost pawn. Engines rate 3…Nd4 as clearly worse — it's purely a trap that relies on White getting greedy with 4.Nxe5 and 5.Nxf7.
Everything. 5.Nxf7?? grabs the fork but lets Black mate with …Qxg2 and …Nf3#. 5.Bxf7+! checks the king first, breaking up Black's attack — after the king moves White is fine. Taking with the right piece, in the right order, is the whole game here.
A trap only works if your opponent makes the mistake — strong players sidestep these, which is why each page also shows how to avoid it. Every line here is checked legal with the same engine the board runs, and every checkmate is verified.