Final position — White is winning
French Defence: Black Queen Trap
White wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Velimirovic - Ristovic, 1995.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Bg5 | Be7 |
| 5. | e5 | Nfd7 |
| 6. | h4 | c5 |
| 7. | Bxe7 | Kxe7 |
| 8. | dxc5 | Qa5 |
| 9. | Qd2 | h6 |
| 10. | Nxd5+ | exd5 |
| 11. | Qxa5 |
How the French Defence: Black Queen Trap works
The French Defence: Black Queen Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 c5 7.Bxe7 Kxe7 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.Qd2 h6 10.Nxd5+ exd5 11.Qxa5. 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 (Velimirovic - Ristovic, 1995.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: Black 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.