Final position — White is winning
French Defence: White Queen Trap
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Rewitz - Nicolaisen, 1997.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | c5 |
| 3. | d5 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Nc3 | exd5 |
| 5. | e5 | d4 |
| 6. | exf6 | dxc3 |
| 7. | Qe2+ | Be7 |
| 8. | fxe7 | Qxe7 |
| 9. | Qxe7+ | Kxe7 |
| 10. | Bc4 |
How the French Defence: White Queen Trap works
The French Defence: White Queen Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French 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 e6 2.d4 c5 3.d5 Nf6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.e5 d4 6.exf6 dxc3 7.Qe2+ Be7 8.fxe7 Qxe7 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.Bc4. 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 (Rewitz - Nicolaisen, 1997.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: White 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.