Final position — Black is winning
Win the Queen in the middle of the board
Black wins in 13 moves with a decisive material gain. (50 Opening Traps,Part 1 - Win the Queen in the middle of the board - C56 - https://lichess.org/@/CHESSLUCAFD)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Bc5 |
| 4. | O-O | Nf6 |
| 5. | d4 | exd4 |
| 6. | e5 | d5 |
| 7. | exf6 | dxc4 |
| 8. | Re1+ | Be6 |
| 9. | fxg7 | Rg8 |
| 10. | Bg5 | Qd5 |
| 11. | Nc3 | Qf5 |
| 12. | Ne4 | Rxg7 |
| 13. | Nh4 |
How the Win the Queen in the middle of the board works
The Win the Queen in the middle of the board is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Italian Game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 13, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Be6 9.fxg7 Rg8 10.Bg5 Qd5 11.Nc3 Qf5 12.Ne4 Rxg7 13.Nh4. 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 (50 Opening Traps,Part 1 - Win the Queen in the middle of the board - C56 - https://lichess.org/@/CHESSLUCAFD). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Win the Queen in the middle of the board 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.