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.

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

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!

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!

You know you can modify the replay board display to suit your taste:

Click the "hamburger" icon on the top left of the board and select an option. Try the Use splitters option and then click the engine button (fan) to go through one game after another.

Grivas Chess International Academy

Free Educational Editions

Download for free – Please Like & Share!
Use the above-right QR-Scan or click the link below

A Greek Warrior - Theodorou (40 pages): A portrait of the No1 Greek player!
FIDE World Championship 2024 (103 pages): The last FIDE WC, fully presented!
Fischer vs Greece 1968 (40 pages): The famous Clock-Simul of the great Bobby!
Greece vs Polgar Scheveningen 1990 (84 pages): A mostly unknown event from 35 years later!
The Grandmaster Program (248 pages): A classical book on creating GMs!
The Art of War (130 Pages): The famous 2400 years earlier book of Sun Tzu, connected to Chess!
Grivas CIA Newsletter 01 - January 2025 (48 pages): The monthly edition of the Grivas CIA.
Grivas CIA Newsletter 02 - February 2025 (74 pages): The monthly edition of the Grivas CIA. 
Grivas CIA Newsletter 03 - March 2025 (74 pages): The monthly edition of the Grivas CIA.

All games are included in the separate PGN file you can find in the folders!

The folder will be renewed every month, with new material/editions, specially prepared by the
Grivas Chess International Academy
An Official World Federation (FIDE) Academy since 2012

<< Maurizzi dominates Djerba Masters, scores 7½ out of 9
Prague Chess Festival 2025 - An interview with Thai Dai Van Nguyen >>
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.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Mastering the unknown: Niclas Huschenbeth on Freestyle Chess

2/15/2025 – Freestyle Chess is shaking up the game, and GM Niclas Huschenbeth is at the forefront of the revolution. With no fixed openings and 960 possible starting positions, adaptability is key—yet Huschenbeth sees opportunity where others see chaos. His Freestyle Chess Masterclass equips players with the principles to navigate any position with confidence. From breaking symmetry to mastering piece coordination, the German GM unveils the secrets to success in this dynamic format. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
More...
 5

See also

Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Participants Agree on "Freestyle Chess Champion" Title

2/11/2025 – On Sunday evening, after the end of the Freestyle Chess rapid round robin at the Weissenhaus luxury resort, the players involved in the Freestyle Grand Slam discussed how to deal with the controversy between Freestyle Chess and FIDE. In response to FIDE's demands, a separate Freestyle Chess Association is now to be founded.
More...
 1

Video

60m The Two Knights

This entry into the 60 minutes series concentrates on the Modern variation of the Italian game where White opens the centre early : 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5!. This line can be reached by various move orders, most frequently from the Scotch 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4. It's a sharp variation and Grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov have used it frequently,with very good results. It's a perfect line for club players to adopt which is relatively easy to learn and which contains many traps. All the main responses are covered here, including 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4 and the conclusion is that is is difficult for Black to equalize in a straightforward way. Problems are being posed, which over the board might prove tough to solve.