LaviChess

The Greco Gambit trap: the rook on a1 is the bait

Black has won a pawn and can take another, with an attack on the rook. Two in three club players do. But while Black's bishop takes the rook in the corner, the king is left in the middle without cover, and White wins. The trap is already in Gioachino Greco's games from the 17th century.

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The position before 9…Bxc3. Black to move, and the natural move loses.

The trap

The Greco Gambit is one of the oldest lines of the Italian Game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3. White lets Black take the pawn on e4 to get ahead in development.

After 7…Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3 the pawn on c3 is hanging, and behind it stands the rook on a1.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Qb3 Bxa1 11. Bxf7+ Kf8 12. Bg5

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9. bxc3

White recaptures. Now the pawn on c3 is hanging, and behind it the rook on a1.

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Open on the analysis board

Why it's easy to fall for

9…Bxc3 wins another pawn and attacks the rook. It's a move that almost plays itself.

But Black hasn't castled, and White's bishop on c4 is already aiming at f7. After 10.Qb3! the queen attacks the bishop and stands on the same diagonal as the bishop. If Black takes the rook with 10…Bxa1, 11.Bxf7+ follows, and Black's king never finds a quiet square.

What Black should have played

Play 9…d5!. The pawn attacks the bishop on c4 and closes the diagonal toward f7. The position is about equal.

If Black has already taken on c3, Black shouldn't take the rook after 10.Qb3. With 10…d5 White is better, but Black survives.

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9… d5

Right. The pawn closes the diagonal toward f7 and attacks the bishop on c4. The position is about equal.

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Open on the analysis board

How it ends

After 12.Bg5 White has a crushing attack. Black is a rook and a pawn up, but the king stands in the center without cover, and White's pieces get there first.

10.Qb3 isn't even White's strongest reply. Better still is 10.Ba3!, which James Aitken suggested: the bishop stops Black's king from castling.

How often does it happen?

In 261,946 games between club players, the position before 9…Bxc3 came up. In 176,799 of them (67%), Black played 9…Bxc3. White won 68% of those games. After the mistake, White went on with 10.Qb3 in 48% of the games.

In 28,437 games between strong players, the position before 9…Bxc3 came up. In 13,589 of them (48%), Black played 9…Bxc3. White won 69% of those games. After the mistake, White went on with 10.Qb3 in 50% of the games.

Move by move: club players

MoveGames in the positionPlayed the moveThen White wonDrawBlack won
8…Nxc3821,533284,784 (35%)62%3%35%
9.bxc3284,656261,993 (92%)63%3%34%
9…Bxc3
the mistake		261,946176,799 (67%)68%3%29%
10.Qb3176,77083,968 (48%)73%2%25%
Move by move: strong players
MoveGames in the positionPlayed the moveThen White wonDrawBlack won
8…Nxc3219,92929,988 (14%)59%4%36%
9.bxc329,97428,440 (95%)60%4%35%
9…Bxc3
the mistake		28,43713,589 (48%)69%3%28%
10.Qb313,5866,828 (50%)74%3%23%

"Played the move": of the games in the position, how many continued with the move of the trap line; then how those games ended. A position missing from the table is too rare for our numbers. Source: games on Lichess in blitz, rapid and classical, fetched 7 November 2026. Club players means games where the players average 1600 or more, strong players games where they average 2000 or more.

Explore the position on the analysis board: the moves club players choose here and how the games tend to end.

Try it

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Black has just taken the rook with 10…Bxa1. White to move: find the strongest continuation!

Your opponent moves…

Two moves to find

The history

Gioachino Greco (born about 1600, dead by 1634) was an Italian player and writer. He wrote handwritten books for patrons, with rules, advice and instructive games. The games are among the oldest preserved in full, but the players have no names, and Greco may well have made up many of them himself.

This trap is in one of them. In Greco's version the attack goes on until Black is mated.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Greco Gambit trap?

In the Italian Game after 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3, Black takes the pawn on c3 with the bishop and attacks the rook. After 10.Qb3 Bxa1 11.Bxf7+ Kf8 12.Bg5 White has a crushing attack.

What should Black play instead of 9…Bxc3?

9…d5. The pawn attacks the bishop on c4 and closes the diagonal toward f7, and the position is about equal.

Every move on this page has been checked against the rules of chess, and every judgement of who stands better has been checked with a chess computer.

Updated November 14, 2026