Final position — White is winning
Black Queen Trap
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (McDaniel - Ladd, Fremont, CA 1985)
The moves
| 1. | g4 | d5 |
| 2. | Bg2 | Bxg4 |
| 3. | c4 | c6 |
| 4. | Qb3 | Qc8 |
| 5. | cxd5 | cxd5 |
| 6. | Nc3 | e6 |
| 7. | Nxd5 | exd5 |
| 8. | Bxd5 | Be6 |
| 9. | Qxb7 | Bxd5 |
| 10. | Qxc8+ |
How the Black Queen Trap works
The Black Queen Trap is a classic chess opening trap. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.Qb3 Qc8 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nxd5 exd5 8.Bxd5 Be6 9.Qxb7 Bxd5 10.Qxc8+. 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 (McDaniel - Ladd, Fremont, CA 1985). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the 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.