Final position — White is winning
French Defence: Opening Trap
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Rausis - Herboth, Baden Baden 1993)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nd2 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe4 | Nc6 |
| 5. | Nf3 | b6 |
| 6. | Bb5 | Qd5 |
| 7. | Qe2 | Nf6 |
| 8. | c4 | Bb4+ |
| 9. | Kf1 | Qd7 |
| 10. | Ne5 |
How the French Defence: Opening Trap works
The French Defence: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nc6 5.Nf3 b6 6.Bb5 Qd5 7.Qe2 Nf6 8.c4 Bb4+ 9.Kf1 Qd7 10.Ne5. 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 (Rausis - Herboth, Baden Baden 1993). 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: Opening 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.