Blackburne Shilling Trap
The Blackburne Shilling Trap: Black offers the e5 pawn with 3...Nd4, and 4.Nxe5? runs into 4...Qg5 and a smothered mate. Line, refutation and real fall rates.
Black plays the odd-looking 3...Nd4 and leaves e5 hanging. Taking it is the mistake the whole line is built on. The move 3...Nd4 is objectively poor, so the trap only works if White grabs the pawn.
How the Blackburne Shilling Trap works
Click a card to see it on the board, then play the punishment yourself.
How often does it work?
Counted in real rated Lichess games, not estimated.
| Rating | Reached the position | Played 4.Nxe5? | Fall rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1200–1400 | 3,003 games | 759 | 25% |
| 1500–1700 | 2,246 games | 417 | 19% |
| 1900–2100 | 817 games | 127 | 16% |
Sample: up to 1,000,000 rated Lichess games per rating band (May 2024), same move order only.
Among players rated 1800 and higher, 4.Nxe5? was played in 5,196 of the games our puzzles are drawn from. Strong players fall for it too.
How to avoid the Blackburne Shilling Trap
What White should play instead.
Now spot it in a real game
Knowing a trap by name is not the same as seeing it at the board. Solve positions from real games until the pattern fires by itself.
Blackburne Shilling Trap
Getting there…4.Nxe5 wins a pawn and threatens f7, but 4...Qg5! attacks the knight and the g2 pawn together. If White carries on with 5.Nxf7, then 5...Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3 is a smothered mate. The least bad option after 4...Qg5 is 5.O-O Qxe5 6.c3, giving up the knight for a pawn and some development.