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The Damiano Defence Trap

Taking the knight opens the e8-h5 diagonal and the king gets hunted.

Opening: Damiano Defence. Set by White. Level: Intermediate.

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ Ke7 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+

It only works after a mistake

Black must play fxe5 for it to work. The knight sacrifice is sound: Black's 2...f6 is already a poor move.

How to avoid it

Qe7 instead of taking the knight.

Practise setting and escaping it