The Magnus Smith Trap is a
chess openingtrap in the
Sicilian Defence, named after three-time
Canadian chess championMagnus Smith (1869–1934). In an article titled "The 'Magnus Smith Trap'"[1] published in his Chess Notes column (hosted at the Chess History Center), chess historian Edward Winter wrote:
We believe that 'Magnus Smith Trap' is a misnomer, although in the Sicilian Defence there is a 'Magnus Smith Variation' (a very rare instance of a player's forename and surname being used jointly in openings terminology).
This is the
Sozin Variation (or Fischer–Sozin Attack) of the
Sicilian Defense. A common response is 6...e6, to make White's
bishop on c4 "bite on granite".
Black is in a bad way. After 8...Nh5
?,
Bobby Fischer gives 9.Qf3! e6 (9...d5 10.Nxd5!) 10.g4 Ng7 11.Ne4 Qa5+ (11...d5 12.Nf6+ Ke7 13.Qa3+) 12.Bd2 Qxe5 13.Bc3 and Black's
queen is trapped.[2] Preferable alternatives are 8...Ng4 9.e6 f5, and Black eventually managed to
draw in
Schlechter–
Lasker, World Championship (1910), rd. 7,[3] and 8...d5 9.exf6 dxc4 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Bg5 Be6 12.0-0-0+ Ke8, and Black ultimately even won in
Rosen–
Burn, Paris 1900.[4]
The move Black actually chooses leads to instant disaster.