Final position — White is winning
Queen's Gambit: Opening Trap
White wins in 12 moves with a decisive material gain. (Denker - Chiera, 1936.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | c4 | c5 |
| 3. | e3 | cxd4 |
| 4. | cxd5 | Qa5+ |
| 5. | Qd2 | Qxd5 |
| 6. | exd4 | Nc6 |
| 7. | Nf3 | Bf5 |
| 8. | Nc3 | Qa5 |
| 9. | Bb5 | e6 |
| 10. | O-O | Rd8 |
| 11. | Ne5 | Ne7 |
| 12. | Nd5 |
How the Queen's Gambit: Opening Trap works
The Queen's Gambit: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Gambit. In this line White wins decisive material by move 12, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5 3.e3 cxd4 4.cxd5 Qa5+ 5.Qd2 Qxd5 6.exd4 Nc6 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Nc3 Qa5 9.Bb5 e6 10.O-O Rd8 11.Ne5 Nge7 12.Nd5. 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 (Denker - Chiera, 1936.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Queen's Gambit: 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.