Final position — Black is winning
Nimzovich-Larsen Attack: Opening Trap
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Girard - Bruneau, France 1989)
The moves
| 1. | b3 | d5 |
| 2. | Bb2 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | c5 |
| 4. | e3 | Nc6 |
| 5. | Be2 | e6 |
| 6. | c4 | Bd6 |
| 7. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 8. | cxd5 | Qa5+ |
| 9. | Qd2 | Bb4 |
How the Nimzovich-Larsen Attack: Opening Trap works
The Nimzovich-Larsen Attack: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Nimzovich-Larsen Attack. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Be2 e6 6.c4 Bd6 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd5 Qa5+ 9.Qd2 Bb4. 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.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Girard - Bruneau, France 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Nimzovich-Larsen Attack: 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.