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Final position — Black is winning

Queen's pawn

Queen's Pawn: Opening Trap (Venert–Mechkarov)

Black wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Venert - Mechkarov, 1970.??.??)

The moves

1.d4 Nc6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.d5 Ne5 6.Nd2 Nd3+
1.d4Nc6
2.c4Nf6
3.Nf3d6
4.Nc3Bg4
5.d5Ne5
6.Nd2Nd3+

How the Queen's Pawn: Opening Trap (Venert–Mechkarov) works

The Queen's Pawn: Opening Trap (Venert–Mechkarov) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn. 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 Nc6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.d5 Ne5 6.Nd2 Nd3+. 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 (Venert - Mechkarov, 1970.??.??). 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: Opening Trap (Venert–Mechkarov) 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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