abcdefgh

Final position — Black is winning

Queen's pawn game

Queen's Pawn Game: Opening Trap #3

Black wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall, Bill - Buchanan, 1976.??.??)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 e6 4.c4 c6 5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 Qa5+
1.d4Nf6
2.Bg5d5
3.e3e6
4.c4c6
5.Bd3dxc4
6.Bxc4Qa5+

How the Queen's Pawn Game: Opening Trap #3 works

The Queen's Pawn Game: Opening Trap #3 is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 e6 4.c4 c6 5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 Qa5+. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.

This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Wall, Bill - Buchanan, 1976.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Queen's Pawn Game: Opening Trap #3 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.

More Queen's pawn game traps

← Browse all chess traps