Final position — White is winning
Queen's Gambit Declined: Promotion Trap
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Fidlow - Mayer, Postal 1950)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | c4 | e6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | c5 |
| 4. | cxd5 | cxd4 |
| 5. | dxe6 | dxc3 |
| 6. | exf7+ | Ke7 |
| 7. | fxg8=N+ | Rxg8 |
| 8. | Bg5+ |
How the Queen's Gambit Declined: Promotion Trap works
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Promotion Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's gambit declined. 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 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 5.dxe6 dxc3 6.exf7+ Ke7 7.fxg8=N+ Rxg8 8.Bg5+. 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 (Fidlow - Mayer, Postal 1950). 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 Declined: Promotion 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.