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Final position — White is winning

Alekhine's defence

Alekhine's Defence: Black Queen Trap

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wren - Mayfield, 1941.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.Bd3 dxe5 6.dxe5 N8d7 7.e6 Nf6 8.exf7+ Kxf7 9.Bg6+ hxg6 10.Qxd8
1.e4Nf6
2.e5Nd5
3.c4Nb6
4.d4d6
5.Bd3dxe5
6.dxe5N8d7
7.e6Nf6
8.exf7+Kxf7
9.Bg6+hxg6
10.Qxd8

How the Alekhine's Defence: Black Queen Trap works

The Alekhine's Defence: Black Queen Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Alekhine's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.Bd3 dxe5 6.dxe5 N8d7 7.e6 Nf6 8.exf7+ Kxf7 9.Bg6+ hxg6 10.Qxd8. 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 (Wren - Mayfield, 1941.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Alekhine's Defence: Black Queen 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.

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