Final position — White is winning
Nimzovich Defence: Opening Trap
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Amberger - Sprecher, Munich 1924)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nc6 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Qa5 |
| 5. | d4 | Bf5 |
| 6. | Bb5 | e6 |
| 7. | Ne5 | Bb4 |
| 8. | Bd2 | Ne7 |
| 9. | Nc4 |
How the Nimzovich Defence: Opening Trap works
The Nimzovich Defence: Opening Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Nimzovich Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qa5 5.d4 Bf5 6.Bb5 e6 7.Ne5 Bb4 8.Bd2 Ne7 9.Nc4. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Amberger - Sprecher, Munich 1924). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Nimzovich Defence: Opening 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.