Beginner: Trapping

Trapping is getting your opponent to send a piece somewhere where it can then be defeated by one of your pieces.

There are 2 types of traps: lure traps, where you lure a piece in with a lower-ranking piece, and bomb traps, where you get your opponent to send a piece somewhere where there is no escape because of bombs.

Lure Traps
Lure traps can be made by moving pieces, or just by strategically placing pieces during the setup phase. The trick about lure traps though, is to know which piece to put behind the bait (the piece used to lure in a higher ranking piece). The best lure traps probably have 2 higher-ranking pieces behind the bait, such as in these examples, as you can never know which piece your opponent will attack with. You can also bluff a lure trap by making a piece retreat to a square adjacent to at least one of your pieces that has not been revealed, such as making your general retreat to an area where it is believable that your spy might be. Your opponent would not usually attack with their marshal, as they would not want to risk losing it to the spy.

Bomb Traps
See also List of Bomb Setups.

Bomb traps are formations of bombs intended to trap opponent's pieces and prevent them from moving without blowing up. A piece can be tricked into a bomb trap if you know what that piece is, and you were blocking it, and then you move up to it. Your opponent may fall for the trap, or they may just keep moving back and forth. Players are more likely to fall for a bomb trap, even without being lured into it if you already have an advantage.