C41 · Opening trap · Philidor Defense
Légal's Mate
Légal's Mate: White leaves the queen hanging with 5.Nxe5, and if Black takes it, three minor pieces deliver mate in two. The oldest queen sacrifice in the book.
Set byWhite
Losing move5...Bxd1? → 6.Bxf7+!
Named after Sire de Légal, who played it in Paris around 1750. Black pins the knight on f3 to the queen and assumes it cannot move. It can.
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How the Légal's Mate works
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How to avoid the Légal's Mate
What Black should play instead.
Other versions of the trap
The same idea from a different move order.
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.
Légal's Mate
Getting there…The pin on f3 is not real, because the bishop on g4 is undefended and f7 is weak. 5.Nxe5! offers the queen. After 5...Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5 it is mate: the bishop and the two knights cover every square around the king. The earlier 4...g6 was already a mistake, since it did nothing about the threat.