In this lesson, I’d like to teach you a really powerful chess opening that will scare your opponents. It’s called the Tiger’s Trap, named after the 9th World Chess Champion, Tigran Petrosian. This opening tarp happens in the English Opening.

To be more precise, it’s the variation which resembles the Reversed Sicilian. This usually occurs after the opening moves: 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3.

Here White is aiming to fianchetto the bishop with Bg2 and then castle kingside. Black’s most common responses are 4…Bb4 which is the mainline and also leads to the Tiger’s Trap, 4…Bc5, and 4…d5. And there are some really cool traps in all these variations.

The trap utilizes the d1-a4 diagonal which the move c4 makes available for the queen. This is a common motif in both the English opening and in the Sicilian Defense. The queen has the option to attack suddenly. And usually, it can be a fork, just like in the Tiger’s Trap.

English Opening Tiger’s Trap Video Lesson

Watch the full video lesson to learn this trap and other possibilities in the English Opening.

You can find the PGN of this chess opening below:

This opening trap is a great tool in your arsenal as it’s aggressive which can win you quick and easy victories. However, there’s more to chess improvement than just learning different opening traps.

If you want to learn all the fundamental things about chess then you need to check out Level Up Your Chess. This course has six sections covering, not just the opening, middlegame and endgame. It also covers how to avoid blunders and how to study and train effectively.

And my big promise in this course is that studying just one section is enough to boost your chess rating. So, go ahead and check it out.