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Final position — White is winning

Queen's Indian defence

Queen's Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Friedman–Duncan)

White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Friedman - Duncan, Dearborn 1992)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 d6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.d5
1.d4Nf6
2.c4e6
3.Nf3b6
4.Nc3Bb4
5.Bg5Bb7
6.e3h6
7.Bh4d6
8.Qa4+Nc6
9.d5

How the Queen's Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Friedman–Duncan) works

The Queen's Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Friedman–Duncan) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Indian defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 d6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.d5. 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 (Friedman - Duncan, Dearborn 1992). 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 Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Friedman–Duncan) 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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