The Trappiest Opening in Chess? | Win Quickly with the Stafford Gambit
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Watch live on Twitch: / imrosen
In this video (originally live-streamed on Twitch), I was asked the following question by a viewer:
"What is the main trap in the Stafford Gambit?"
I then decided to show all of the traps in the Stafford Gambit that I could think of in the moment. Although white is objectively better with precise play in the Stafford, there are SO MANY ways to go wrong and stumble into danger. Many of the trap variations feature beautiful sacrifices and mind blowing combinations. Although I go through some of them quickly in this video, I hope this offers some inspiration to win quickly and be alert for tactic in the opening!
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0:34
Always say, “OH NO MY QUEEN!”
Then they realizing red flag after watching this video
Always works against my friends
call an ambulance, call an ambulance!! but not for me!
My thoughts 😅
Finally gonna channel my inner John Snow
Discovered this gambit from the RosenGod himself. Now have 100% winrate against Cagnus Marlsen and Nikaru Hakamura.
Same I won against Naniel Daroditsky and even the legendary Lelix Fengyel
LMAO
Hiraku...
I also rekt Nepo Ianmiachtchi using this epic opening
I forced a draw against Danish Giri
10:19 I love how in this crazy position, SF just takes a look and goes "yep equal, nothing interesting here it's equal"
The King really do be out in the centre of the board and SF be like "dead draw"
White king got some extra +points for bravery
Yeah. What engines don't tell you is whether or not the position is so sharp that one wrong move results in immediate death. Sure, it might be equal with perfect play, but uh... we ain't perfect.
@@PiercingSight That would be a good suggestion for engine developers. To have them estimate the "sharpness" of position. By looking at how many good moves are available, and how severe are the alternatives. In worst case, there is only a single good move, and all others loose on the spot.
@@andydecoy1138 facts, I dont know much about computer developing but from the sound of it I'd say it would be a fairly easy thing to add
00:34 very important detail.
cant forget the cheeky "oh no my queen" bruv
You must say it even if you're online and noone is listening.
Saying this line is mandatory in the Stafford
@@SupremeDP I send a message to my opponent - Oh no my queen
I'm proud to say I lost 4 games in a row using this
watch the video again
Did you forget to say oh no my queen?
Late reply, but oh no my elo!
@@jamessalmas7019 more like oh no my king
@@jamessalmas7019 Haha you cracked me
Eric literally teaches us nearly 50 traps
Also Eric: We've just scratched the surface
You,"50 likes!"
I love how you explain the how with the why. I don't get to your Twitch streams as often and for as long as I wish I could, but you've already provided a lot of helpful tips. The Stafford Gambit will definitely be going into my repertoire against my friends. I suddenly feel evil...and I like it.
"Oh no my queen" has a separate fanbase to itself
The trappiest opening ever video with Ne7 dxe7 then Bxf2+ and KxB then QxQ has a classic "Oh no my knight!" moment
Better learn the counters to this gambit seeing how everyone's gonna be playing it for the next couple of weeks.
Just play the caro kann to avoid it
Just play anything else than e4, if you do and they respond with e5, just go with vienna or develop the bishop first :D
I just decline it and go for the four knight attack
kings gambit numba wan
i got to 1900 with kings gambit its op
change my mind
0:28 d3, Bg5 - develop bishop + pin
1:45 e5 - push pawn
2:43 d3, Nc3 - develop knight
3:30 Kc3, Bc4 - knight and bishop
5:30 Kc3, Be2 - king's bishop
9:34 d3, h3 - pawns
@eric at 2:43 how do you respond after the 5. nc3 bc5 6.h3?
"The trappiest opening in Chess". Not to be confused with the _trippiest_ opening in Chess, which is the Bongcloud.
Hikaru suddenly pops in my mind xD
I'd say the Ware is the trippiest.
That's funny. Thats very very funny. Its actually really really funny
I wonder when we'll see the double improved bongcloud
I just won my first Stafford gambit game (on my first attempt), that "oh no my queen" was so satisfying, thank you Eric :)
Hey Eric, please do more videos in which you’re explaining some openings or traps in openings. It‘s very entertaining! Keep going your great work on this channel✌️
Jonathan Schrantz has some great videos on some gambits he plays too, definetely worth checking out if you're interested in that stuff
Ya same i love this video . Do this type of video more
your voice is so DAMN relaxing. i love to fall asleep as you slowly embed chess talk into my brain
Creepy
Now you should make a detailed video about Botez Gambit too.
Did you miss the video where he used that exact gambit 39 times against the person who gave it its name? XD
0:33 Botez Gambit accepted
Botez Gambit has say too many transpositions for a single video
ive been having problems staying over 1200 for the past 6 months. After adding this into my repertoire i now have problems staying 1300. Ty Rosen
what about now?
what about now?
this mans voice is one of the best . like really when i hear him speak i got relaxed like there's no worries. Amazing content ♥
This was exclusively the opening I played! Curse you, Rosen, for exposing the tricks and making me inevitably lose rating since people won’t fall for them anymore!!
(Not really, since you were the reason this became my favorite opening in the first place)
One of the most educational chess video ive ever seen. Your enthusiasm in teaching the variations really helps!
Just had my first Stafford game on Lichess with the exact same position as in 3:53. Had been waiting for opponents to play 2.Nf3 for last 3 days and finally got it. Reached my peak rating of 1797 with this win. Thanks Eric.
Eric......ur killing me. Stop showing people my lines lol Truthfully I learned most of these traps from you anyway.....but this is going too far 🤫😁
Oops
Im just gonna switch back to Scandi and Budapest and hope they all forgot about it by focusing on this one lol
@@izs6946 Scandi has traps?? I have played vs Scandi so many times and never had trouble...
Same here. Lol
Same Lmao
When I try to play this gambit, the knight never takes on e5.
There is a staffard gambit declined line you can learn
@@swift-mik855 In other words just learn to play chess because there's limitless options once they decline it.
@@aaronbarlow4376 True. Just learning the gambit itself but not knowing what to do after someone declines it is a big mistake.
i find if i take my time on the second move, instead of just quickly playing NF6, i get more people accepting the gambit, playing very fast looks like you've done your homework and people are more hesitant to take on E5.
True.. i have this same problem
This gambit is pretty hilarious, very straightforward and every attack is super telegraphed and still you can't stop it sometimes.
To whomever sprung the question; thank you
I'm just getting into chess, and this is exactly the type of content I'm looking for to understand my faults and best moves. Thanks!
Again thanks for your videos. Yesterday I managed to pull one of these in a match after you showed us in twitch. I felt so accomplished, so satisfying when the opponent fall for the trap.
Fiinallllyyy!!... this was the most long awaited video for Eric's Followers. Thanks a lot Eric.
Per 19th of August 2020 it's close to 800.
I lost a fast OTB game in the club a few months ago ... was pretty angry ... went on lichess and played EXACTLY the Bg4 Mate line!
That made me happy again!
Thanx, Eric. I juzz luuuv your wild style!
I aimed for the Capablanca/Botvinnik/Karpov solid style of chess, growing up as a chess player years ago, but nowadays I try to spice it up: Some players at my level just don't have a CLUE about these pawn sacrifices early on!
Been using staffords gambit traps with a lot of success , I've only been playing Chess for about 1 month and this is my favourite style of play! Learning a bunch of openings as a beginner just confused me but learning even a portion of this style of gameplay has taught me tons.
Wonderful gambit @Eric Rosen, thanks for sharing. After playing chess for some years (as a self learner), I was kind of stuck, kind of playing always the same lines, and this opening throws so many options that makes the game fantastic. Take care
I am 1850 on lichess and the Stafford is my main response to 1. e4. However, many people are afraid of playing 3. nxe5 and we often transpose into a four knights. I very often win with the stafford, usually in under 20 moves. Yes, its objectivly bad, but if you win over the board, then there is nothing to say.
not a bad gambit if you win, exactly
I decided to learn Go now. Thanks for the inspiration, Eric!
I just found this gambit about 5-6 days ago and was working through all the possible lines to unleash it...oh well...LOL. I really like it.
I can always tell that Rosen has released a new video because all my opponents start opening the same way.
Crabtastically so
@@KF1
Don't mess with the Crab/Hippo/Walrus/Hedgehog/etc.
@@RemyWillard it's kind of amazing how much influence he and Shrantz have over the novelties of modern chess entertainment.
I look forward to being good enough to prep past move 7
Dark chocolate and the Stafford Gambit are now my two favorite things! Thanks for the great lesson Eric!
Make a free Stafford gambit course on chessable
This seems like a free course to me
by Magnus Carlson
There's a Lichess study in the description, it's better than a course.
He's already done it on Lichess
Ive been getting so many wins as white just knowing this gambit and youve popularized it.
HAHAHAH I did this trap against my friend, IT WORKED!!!
oh no my queen
So excited to start using Stafford! What a fantastic video!!!
Very good information!!! I love this gambit and I'm going to study it more in depth.
3:20 bishop C4... pretty much predicted the future Rosen... nice
F in the chat for the kingside rook
i love how he is explaining this: go here, say oh no my queen and then deliver mate
Incredibly instructive. Thank you Eric.
Thank you Eric once again for making this dedicated video and showing some new lines in Stafford gambit . It is my favourite opening when i m black and you also play this regularly in your blitz games☺. I am desparately waiting for you to cover fajarowicz gambit since i have few questions in that and i could not find answers anywherelse
first trap 0:27
first trap diff veriation 0:57
first trap diff veriation 1:10
second trap 1:44
second trap diff veriation 2:04
second trap diff veriation 2:12
third trap 2:42
fourth trap 3:15
fourth trap diff veriation 4:14
fifth trap (eric's fav) 5:25
funny line trap 8+1:30 (my nine key doesn't work)
This is the juciest gambit in the Petrov! Awesome tactics! Great video!
Wow this is an incredible opening but the problem is my enemies are also watching this😅😅
Lol
But let's say you get to a certain elo, people dont fall to the classical traps right, or less and less
This opening has been played a lot after all
hahahaha "my enemies"......... so epic 🤣
Thanks for the great content eric! I’ve been looking to learn the stafford for a while now, great video
I WON 3 games straight within 2 minutes due to this
Chess players hate this GM
Find out how ! ! !
@@matteomarku7177
IM, but could someday be GM if/when it becomes a top priority.
Matteo Marku BUT WAIT THERES MORE
I've watched this video so many times. Thank you for this beautiful opening
Thank you again Eric! its always hard to play stafford after 6. d4! and i didn't knew about the trap for d4! but in any other line is a lot of fun!
For myself:
0:27 5. d3
9:34 6. h3
1:46 5. e5
1:49 6. d3
2:12 6. d4
2:43 5. Nc3
6. d3
3:20 6. Bc4
4:18 7. Qf3
5:29 6. Be3
9:34 6. h3
I just started playing chess again and mated someone in 9 moves with this! Thank you, Eric! I'm so stoked! If anyone wants to see the game, I'll leave a link to it below 😁😁
I instantly played a stafford gambit and had this game 3:16
Thanks for this video. It helped me break through to 1300 for the first time today.
I've been playing the Stafford gambit recently. These tricks are filthy.
Got really into chess like 6 weeks ago.
Got to play my first stafford today against a 1200 rated.
Mate in 14 😎
Had my first brilliant move in it as well.
Thanks a lot!
eric.
eric.
eric.
eric.
eric.
eric.
I just executed the OH NO MY QUEEN checkmate line in a blitz game today! My opponent was so shook! Thank you sensei!!!! But sadly I forgot to say "oh no my queen" as I played it.....
More like this please....this was amazing
I have won many games with this gambit. Thank you so much Eric Rosen.👍😎. Hope u become a GM soon and share more such openings.👍
I think we need a 10 minute study like this one but for bongcloud, we must all do our part to prevent Hikaru from getting to 3000 with bongcloud only
Thanks Eric. I've had huge success playing it in blitz
0:46 Time traveller from 2022 here: right now this mate on lichess has occurred 7.838 times! Thanks to Eric more than 10 times the original amount of 2020!!!
Awesome Sauce! Brilliant. Thank you.
The 'ohno my queen' felt like he said it so often he felt plain about it
Mates with enemy king after sacrificing his own queen.
What a mad lad move there
Just got one of the Stafford traps from the vid one of the first times I try the opening. 5.d3 Bc5, 6. Bg5 Nxe4, 7. Bxd8 Bxf2+, 8. Ke2 Bg4# reminds me of the Légals mate of the philidor defence that I get quite often so feels natural to play.
Thank you master Eric for all the great content! 🙂
Very helpful, thank you Eric👍
im so shocked that he mentioned an exact line on how to blunder and get check mated-which happened to me yesterday
Best gambit video! but now seems like everyone is learning it :)
2:38 what if he plays Qxf3 , i cant find any good moves after
Beautiful analysis ❤❤❤
Unreal content, thanks as always 🙏
Also I have seen a significant increase in Stafford gambit players in the past few days on Lichess... I think your videos are doing damage already.
Thankfully you also showed the very stable plan for white: ... d3 Be2 h3 Nd2 c3 d4... I had some quick wins with this line without really thinking
Do more videos like this. This is helpfull in so many ways
Very exciting! This gives me added inspiration to play chess.
Eric quick take this down! If people know these lines I won’t be able to maintain my 1500 lichess!
Christian leave him alone dude everyone’s different rating
Man, I mean I have to win games a white too
Tricks are fun I got to 2300 with gambits
1500 is good. I am at 1800 classical/1300 bullet after a year. I look forward to seeing these gambits on lichess.
Christian Friedman it’s called the Stanford Gambit so lmao
Would love to see more of this
Eric ,you should create a lichess study about the Stafford Gambit :D :)
Here it is! lichess.org/study/whCVdUeM
@@eric-rosen Ty sir Stafford Gambit is the new Nakhmanson Gambit.
Great content and really helpful! Thanks!
Went into a game using this and instantly won its too good
i played this right after i watched the video and got a win in 8 moves because the opponent resigned. nice tutorial
please make more of this man
Just had my first win with Stafford Gambit against a higher-rated opponent! Check-mate in 9 moves! Thank you, Eric!
I'm scared of playing this opening honestly. Because what if it propels me to a rating where I can't win games normally anymore and am reliant on tricks?
Learn more tricks.
And learn more non tricks
After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 Bc5 6. h3 what is the next move/line for black?
need more traps like these
When you say look at my game and it's one of the 5 best on the Lichess database lol
The amount of things I try from Rosen and then I'm down material and have no idea where to go lol
You have to say "Oh no, my ___", right before you lose it. Like getting a boost at the starting line in mario kart
Hi Eric! What do you do if white plays pawn e5, Ne4, then Qe2? Are there any good traps? Or is the fun line sort of dead there?
This is soooo cool man!
Thank you for the videos, I love this!
I really like this gambit... the issue is I only see the white accept it once in a blue moon! The f3 e5 took never happens, and when it does the knight exchange is never accepted - still a cool opening
I've been doing shrugs at the gym to work on my traps when I should've been using the Stafford.
You should do a Stafford gamble chessable course! I'd pay for that.
I just got another Stafford so I’m here again, waiting to see what he does
In the final line, you can also just play 6...Nxe4 immediately. I had a game as white recently and played 6.h3, not aware of the trap and discovered it after in the analysis, but my opponent didn't know it either and just developed, leaving me with a pawn advantage.
What about f3 instead of c3 as the fifth move for white?