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Final position — White is winning

King's pawn opening

King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Belmondo–Gilardi)

White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Belmondo - Gilardi, 1989.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 Qxd4 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.Qxd4
1.e4Nc6
2.d4d5
3.exd5Qxd5
4.Nf3Bg4
5.Be2Bxf3
6.Bxf3Qxd4
7.Bxc6+bxc6
8.Qxd4

How the King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Belmondo–Gilardi) works

The King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Belmondo–Gilardi) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 Qxd4 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.Qxd4. 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 (Belmondo - Gilardi, 1989.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Belmondo–Gilardi) 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.

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