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Final position — Black is winning

King's pawn opening

King's Pawn Opening: White Queen Trap

Black wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kuuti - Heinola, 1983.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 g5 2.d4 Bg7 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e5 d5 6.Bd3 c5 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.dxc5 Bxe5 9.Qxd5 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxd5
1.e4g5
2.d4Bg7
3.Bc4h6
4.Nc3c6
5.e5d5
6.Bd3c5
7.Bb5+Nc6
8.dxc5Bxe5
9.Qxd5Bxc3+
10.bxc3Qxd5

How the King's Pawn Opening: White Queen Trap works

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

The full sequence runs 1.e4 g5 2.d4 Bg7 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e5 d5 6.Bd3 c5 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.dxc5 Bxe5 9.Qxd5 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxd5. 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 (Kuuti - Heinola, 1983.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the King's Pawn Opening: 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.

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