Final position — White is winning
Nimzo-Indian Defence: Opening Trap
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Reggi - Ciric, Reggio Emilia 1975)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | e6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 4. | Qc2 | Nc6 |
| 5. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 6. | Bg5 | e5 |
| 7. | d5 | Ne7 |
| 8. | Qa4+ |
How the Nimzo-Indian Defence: Opening Trap works
The Nimzo-Indian Defence: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Nimzo-Indian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bg5 e5 7.d5 Ne7 8.Qa4+. 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 (Reggi - Ciric, Reggio Emilia 1975). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Nimzo-Indian 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.