Final position — White is winning
English Opening: White Queen Trap (Muller–Duchamp)
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Muller - Duchamp, The Hague 1928)
The moves
| 1. | c4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 4. | d4 | exd4 |
| 5. | Nxd4 | Bb4 |
| 6. | Bg5 | h6 |
| 7. | Bh4 | Ne4 |
| 8. | Bxd8 | Nxc3 |
| 9. | Nxc6 | Nxd1+ |
| 10. | Nxb4 |
How the English Opening: White Queen Trap (Muller–Duchamp) works
The English Opening: White Queen Trap (Muller–Duchamp) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the English Opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Ne4 8.Bxd8 Nxc3 9.Nxc6 Nxd1+ 10.Nxb4. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Muller - Duchamp, The Hague 1928). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the English Opening: White Queen Trap (Muller–Duchamp) 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.