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Final position — White is winning

Queen's Indian defence

Queen's Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Kraidman–Harestad)

White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kraidman - Harestad, Gausdal 1991)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb4 6.Qc2 d5 7.Qa4+
1.d4Nf6
2.c4e6
3.Nf3b6
4.g3Ba6
5.Nbd2Bb4
6.Qc2d5
7.Qa4+

How the Queen's Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Kraidman–Harestad) works

The Queen's Indian Defence: Opening Trap (Kraidman–Harestad) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Indian defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb4 6.Qc2 d5 7.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 (Kraidman - Harestad, Gausdal 1991). 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 (Kraidman–Harestad) 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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