Final position — Black is winning
Rubinstein trap.
Black wins in 14 moves with a decisive material gain. (Opening traps. - Rubinstein trap.👾 - D63 - https://lichess.org/@/Lock_day)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | c4 | e6 |
| 4. | Bg5 | Nbd7 |
| 5. | e3 | Be7 |
| 6. | Nc3 | O-O |
| 7. | Rc1 | Re8 |
| 8. | Qc2 | a6 |
| 9. | cxd5 | exd5 |
| 10. | Bd3 | c6 |
| 11. | O-O | Ne4 |
| 12. | Bf4 | f5 |
| 13. | Nxd5 | cxd5 |
| 14. | Bc7 |
How the Rubinstein trap. works
The Rubinstein trap. is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 14, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Rc1 Re8 8.Qc2 a6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 c6 11.O-O Ne4 12.Bf4 f5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Bc7. 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 (Opening traps. - Rubinstein trap.👾 - D63 - https://lichess.org/@/Lock_day). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Rubinstein 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.