Final position — Black is winning
Elephant Trap
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain.
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | c4 | e6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Bg5 | Nbd7 |
| 5. | cxd5 | exd5 |
| 6. | Nxd5 | Nxd5 |
| 7. | Bxd8 | Bb4+ |
| 8. | Qd2 | Bxd2+ |
| 9. | Kxd2 | Kxd8 |
How the Elephant Trap works
The Elephant Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Gambit Declined, 4.Bg5. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nxd5 Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8. 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.
Recognising this pattern early lets you either spring it as Black or calmly sidestep it when you are White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Elephant 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.