I just ran into a pretty cool little opening trap called the fishing pole trap. I think it is something that beginners like me need to be aware of. I just ran into it for the first time and lucky for me I did not fall into the trap. How did I know it was a trap if I had never seen it before? Well I can't say exactly my danger sense just went off. Sometimes as chess players we have to just trust our instincts, if something just doesn't look right it probably isn't.

Here is the game it came from:

So what happens if you fall for the trap? It could go something like this: Or: Even the best computer moves out of it leave white in a pretty awful place if you take the knight. And how many of us play like a computer?

Yeah no thanks you can keep that knight I'll just keep developing and controlling the center.

If you like to play traps you could give it a try. But I am a firm believer in not playing "Hope Chess" that is to play dubious lines and just hope your opponent doesn't see the right response. You can probably get a decent rating playing stuff like this. This guy was 1300 but I don't think he will ever see 1500 if he continues to play like this.