Final position — Black is winning
Bird's Opening: White Queen Trap
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Murtaugh - Wall, Okinawa 1972)
The moves
| 1. | f4 | e5 |
| 2. | fxe5 | d6 |
| 3. | exd6 | Bxd6 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 5. | e4 | g5 |
| 6. | d4 | g4 |
| 7. | Ng5 | Nxd4 |
| 8. | Qxd4 | Bg3+ |
| 9. | hxg3 | Qxd4 |
How the Bird's Opening: White Queen Trap works
The Bird's Opening: White Queen Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Bird's opening. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.e4 g5 6.d4 g4 7.Ng5 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg3+ 9.hxg3 Qxd4. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Murtaugh - Wall, Okinawa 1972). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Bird's Opening: White Queen Trap in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.