Final position — Black is winning
French Milner-Barry Trap
Black wins in 12 moves with a decisive material gain.
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | e5 | c5 |
| 4. | c3 | Nc6 |
| 5. | Nf3 | Qb6 |
| 6. | Bd3 | cxd4 |
| 7. | cxd4 | Bd7 |
| 8. | O-O | Nxd4 |
| 9. | Nxd4 | Qxd4 |
| 10. | Nc3 | Qxe5 |
| 11. | Re1 | Qb8 |
| 12. | Nxd5 |
How the French Milner-Barry Trap works
The French Milner-Barry Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 12, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 Qxe5 11.Re1 Qb8 12.Nxd5. 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.
Recognising this pattern early lets you either spring it as Black or calmly sidestep it when you are White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Milner-Barry 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.