A 1950 correspondence game; popular online since · Correspondence chess, then the internet

The Stafford Gambit: the Petrov trap where the king takes everything

The Stafford Gambit is a trap in the Petrov Defence: Black plays 3…Nc6 and sacrifices a knight, and the opponent who grabs the pawns is punished. It is named after a correspondence player, Stafford, whose 1950 game (Lowens–Stafford) was lost after 6…Bc5, and it became famous online through IM Eric Rosen’s “Oh no, my queen!”.

Date: A 1950 correspondence game; popular online since
Place: Correspondence chess, then the internet
Players: Black: Stafford (the trap). White: the opponent who falls for it
Result: Black wins the White queen or mates the king
Opening: Petrov Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6)
On Chess History: You play Black, and the king is the one who gets caught

Play the story Interactive: the moves, the characters, the endings to find.

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Bg5 Nxe4 7.Bxd8 Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bg4#

Black is a pawn down for quick development, but after 5.d3 Bc5 the trap is 6.Bg5?? Nxe4! (about −4.0 for White). The correct 6.Be2 keeps White ahead, at about +2.4 after 7.h3! and 8.c3: the trap is for the greedy move.

The bait

The Petrov Defence is one of the calmest openings in chess: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 and Black has no weaknesses. The Stafford Gambit uses the calm. After 3.Nxe5 Nc6, White’s knight on e5 is attacked by nothing, but the knight on c6 offers a trade on c6 which White seems to like.

In the 1950 game (Lowens–Stafford) the line was 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.e5 Ne4, and 6.d3?? Bc5! was already decisive. The line the course uses, 5.d3 Bc5, is the modern version of the same idea.

The trap

After 5.d3 Bc5 White has one move that looks natural and loses at once: 6.Bg5?? Nxe4!. The knight takes the pawn with a double threat, and after 7.Bxd8 Black finds 7…Bxf2+ and the king runs to e2, where 8…Bg4 is mate. The engine rates 6.Bg5 at about −4.0 for White.

The honest defence is 6.Be2, followed by 7.h3! and a slow, unpleasant but playable game for White. The lesson is to look at the checks and the king’s squares before you take the pawn that is offered to you.

Questions and answers

What is the Stafford Gambit?

A trap in the Petrov Defence: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6. Black sacrifices a knight and wins back material if the opponent grabs the pawns.

Who was Stafford?

A correspondence player whose 1950 game (Lowens–Stafford) was already lost after 6…Bc5!. The name stuck when the line became popular online.

What does “Oh no, my queen!” mean?

It is the catchphrase IM Eric Rosen used when White’s queen is lost in the trap line. It is the easiest way to remember the trap.

Sources and checks

Game details from the 1950 correspondence record as cited in the course’s source notes
Popularisation by IM Eric Rosen
Engine check on this site: Stockfish 17 (depth 20-22)

The moves on this page are checked for legality, and the engine evaluations come from Stockfish 17. Where a game is more legend than fact, the story says so.