Final position — Black is winning
Elephant Trap - QGD (black)
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Traps - Elephant Trap - QGD (black) - D35 - https://lichess.org/@/Hoobus)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | c4 | e6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | cxd5 | exd5 |
| 5. | Bg5 | Nbd7 |
| 6. | Nxd5 | Nxd5 |
| 7. | Bxd8 | Bb4+ |
| 8. | Qd2 | Bxd2+ |
| 9. | Kxd2 | Kxd8 |
How the Elephant Trap - QGD (black) works
The Elephant Trap - QGD (black) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's gambit declined. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.Nxd5 Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8. 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 (Traps - Elephant Trap - QGD (black) - D35 - https://lichess.org/@/Hoobus). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Elephant Trap - QGD (black) 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.