Grivas on Trapping a Piece

by Efstratios Grivas
2/24/2025 – A trapped piece is a piece that has no escape squares or squares where it can safely move without being captured. A trapped piece can be a bishop or a knight, but also ‘heavier’ pieces such as a rook or a queen can be ensnared. Even the king can be put into a position where it no way to move around. In the first part of his article GM Efstratios Grivas deals with a trapped king and trapped queens.

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Trapping a Piece

The following are the most typical means of trapping pieces:

  • Capturing it!
  • Limiting its mobility using pawns/pieces and attacking it/locking it out of the game.
  • Chasing it to a bad square or corner of the board, where its mobility will be limited.

A trapped piece can be a bishop/knight, but also ‘heavier’ pieces as rook and queen.
Pawns are not referred to as trapped due to their limited movement, and kings cannot be captured, although any mate is essentially a trapped king!

Trapped pieces are important to recognise because they can often be won. We have to train on how to recognise and attack trapped pieces, but not all trapped pieces can be won easily.

If a trapped piece cannot be attacked or won, it can still be a liability, as technically material has been ‘won’.

Trapping the King

We are usually referring to trapping the king when we succeed in mating him. But there are cases that simply the opponent king has no way to move around. In the middlegame, maybe this isn’t that important, but in the endgame it can be critical!

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 Nbd7 6.Bf4 Nh5 7.Bd2 Nhf6 8.Bf4 Nh5 9.e3 b6 10.cxb6 Qxb6 11.Qd2 e6 12.Rc1 Nxf4 13.exf4 c5 14.Na4 Qa7 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Qd4 Nxa4 17.Rxc8+ Kd7 18.Qxa7+ Rxa7 19.Rc2 Bd6 20.Ne5+ Bxe5 21.fxe5 Rc7 22.Kd2 Rxc2+ 23.Kxc2 Rc8+ 24.Kb1 Rb8 25.b3 Nc3+ 26.Ka1 a5 27.Bd3 h5 28.Kb2 d4 29.Bc4 Kc6 30.f4 g6 31.g3 Kc5 32.h3 a4 33.g4 (D)
Trapping the king is a rare bird, as it usually leads to mate, but sometimes we can exclude the opponent’s king from the game, without attacking him directly. An effective strategy in the endings, where the king usually becomes a strong and active piece. 33...a3+! 34.Ka1 (D)
White is easily losing after 34.Kxa3 Ra8+ 35.Kb2 Rxa2+ 36.Kc1 Ra1+-+ . Now, With the king on a1, Black is practically a piece ahead and the rest is pure technique. Pure, but nice and precise! 34...Rh8! A nice touch, forcing White to block the kingside, thus depriving her of any counterplay. 35.g5 (D)
35.gxh5 , is losing to gxh5 36.Rg1 Rd8 37.Bd3 h4 38.Rg7 Nd5 39.Rxf7 Rg8-+ . 35...Kb4 35...d3 36.Bxd3 Rd8 37.Bb1 h4-+ , is a lost case for White as well. 36.Rh2 Rc8! 37.Rd2 So, White is in a difficult situation, as she has nothing really to attack and create any counterplay. But Black has to finish the job… After 37.Bd3 Nd5-+ , the black rook penetrates. 37...Rxc4! Effective and clear! 38.bxc4 Kxc4 39.h4 d3 40.f5 Ne4! 40...exf5? 41.Rxd3! Kxd3 42.e6 fxe6 , is a stalemate! 41.fxg6 fxg6 42.Rc2+ Kd4! 43.Rd2 Ke3 44.Rd1 (D)
44...Ke2 44...Ke2 And White resigned: 45.Rg1 d2 46.Kb1 d1Q+ 47.Rxd1 Kxd1-+ . 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tan,Z2250Stefanova,A24900–12004D15FIDE-WC W1

Trapping the Queen

This is an often met concept, as we have many games where a queen acts carelessly and expose herself early in the game. In general, try not to move around with the queen in the opening, chasing ‘poisoned’ pawns!

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1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 Qb6 7.cxd5 A theoretical position, where Black tried to be active rather early and with the wrong piece! Qxb2? A blunder! Black had to opt for 7...Nxd4 8.Nf3! Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Bd7 10.Bc4 . 8.Rc1! Now the black queen is in trouble. Nb4 9.Na4! Qxa2 10.Bc4 Bg4 (D)
Or 10...Qa3 11.Rc3+- . 11.Nf3! Bxf3 12.gxf3 And Black resigned, as his queen is lost. 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Botvinnik,M-Spielmann,R-1–01935B13Moscow International1
Lugovoi,A2566Balashov,Y25001–02003E52RUS-Ch4
Miko,V2061Radics,L21531–02003B36Nyiregyhaza Open7
Nezhmetdinov,R-Konstantinov,A-1–01936C02Rostov on Don
Romero Holmes,A2529Polgar,J27091–02008A45ITA-Ch tt5
Fraser,G-Taubenhaus,J-1–01888C45Paris

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Efstratios (30.03.1966) is a highly experienced chess trainer and chess author. He has been awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) the titles of International Chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer, International Chess Arbiter and International Chess Organiser.
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