Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...Na5

Pollock defence C60 Spanish game 3...Na5? · Pollock defence An unusual and poor move, Black moves their knight again in the opening and leaves their pawn undefended. When facing moves like this, White should think carefully before taking the free material. A famous trap in the Italian game, the Blackburne shilling gambit, begins 3...Nd4, where Black undefends e5 intending to answer Nxe5? with ...Qg5!, attacking the knight and the vulnerable g2-pawn at the same time.3...Nd4 in the Spanish is called Bird's defence and conceals the same trap, though since ...Nd4 also attacks White's bishop, even players unfamiliar with the trap tend to find the better move, 4. Nxd4. Here after 3...Na5 it's not so clear if White can't take the pawn. 4. Nxe5 Qg5 (which has the additional feature of pinning the knight to the bishop) 5. d4 Qxg2 and either 6. Rf1 Qxe4+ 7. Be3, or better is 6. Qf3! Qxf3 7. Nxf3 +. A better implementation of this trap is 3...Nb4?!, where if White takes on e5, at the end of the variation Black has ...Nxc2+! If the idea isn't 4...Qg5, Black may try 4...c6, driving the bishop away. 5. Ba4 b5 6. Bb3 Nxb3 7. axb3 ++ is fine for White, or they might try 5. Be2 and see if Black allows their knight to become trapped at the edge of the board (e.g. 5...d6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. b4! +++). History William H. K. Pollock (1859―1896) was an English chess master and surgeon. He won Irish Chess Association Masters in 1885, competed in the 6th American Chess Congress, and represented Canada at Hastings 1895 before dying of tuberculosis the following year. He played 3...Na5 in the New York Chess Association tournament of 1893Frere v Pollock, 1893. Chessgames.com and in a casual game against Amos Burn.Burn v Pollock, 1887. Chessgames.com References