Openings · A45

Trompowsky Attack

The bishop comes out on move two and asks the knight a question before Black has chosen a defence at all.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.d4Nf6
  2. 2.Bg5

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

2.Bg5 sidesteps everything: no King's Indian, no Grünfeld, no Nimzo-Indian, and none of the theory that comes with them. White either takes on f6 to double the pawns and play against them, or keeps the bishop and builds an ordinary game a move ahead of Black's preparation.

It is genuinely sound rather than a trick, but it is sharp in the way gambits are: several of the critical lines are short, forcing, and lost on the spot by whoever has not seen them.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Retreating to h4

After 4…g5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
Keeping the bishop with 3.Bh4 and then challenging the knight with f3.
Why it costs
4…g5 traps the bishop: after 5.fxe4 gxh4 it is gone for the knight, and the f-pawn has left the squares in front of White's king. Material is level and the engine calls the position about level, so this is not a lost game. It is the trade the Trompowsky was played to avoid, made on Black's terms.
Instead
3.Bf4, which keeps the bishop on a diagonal it can leave, or 3.h4 first if you want to keep the tension on the kingside.

Blocking the check with the bishop

After 5…Nxd2
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Meeting 4…Qa5+ with 5.Bd2, the natural-looking block.
Why it costs
The knight on e4 is standing next to d2. 5…Nxd2 takes the bishop, and after 6.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 7.Nxd2 cxd4 Black has the two bishops and White's d-pawn. The engine rates it clearly better for Black. 4.f3 itself is a good move; it has one answer to the check that has to be known.
Instead
5.c3, the main line. The knight has to go back to f6, and 6.d5 gains space with a move in hand. (5…Nxc3? does not work: 6.Nxc3 and Black has lost a knight.)

Doubling the pawns for nothing

After 3…Qxf6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
The mistake
Trading on f6 as a matter of course, because doubled pawns look like a permanent gain.
Why it costs
Black recaptures with the queen, which is now developed, and has the two bishops in a position with no fixed weaknesses. Doubled f-pawns are only a target if the position stays closed enough to attack them; here it does not.
Instead
3.e4 — the sharpest line in the whole opening — or 3.Nd2 and e4 next, taking the centre while the bishop still ties the knight down.

What the engine says

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 3 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. d5+0.0
  2. g6+0.1
  3. Ne4+0.2
  4. e6+0.2
  5. c6+0.3
  6. c5+0.3

The engine's main line from d5: d5 e3 c5 Bxf6 gxf6 dxc5 e6 c4.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

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