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Elephant Trap

Elephant Trap

The Elephant Trap derives from the Queen’s Gambit Declined lines. Black defends the Queens Gambit by simply developing his pawn to e6, keeping the tension on the d5 pawn. White continues to develop his knight and apply even more pressure.

1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Bg5 Nbd7
5. cxd5 exd5 (White might think the black knight on f6 is pinned to the queen but that’s not correct. It’s a trap)
6. Nxd5 Nxd5
7. Bxd8 Bb4+
8. Qd2 Bxd2+
9. Kxd2 Kxd8

Black then starts to set the elephant trap by developing his own knight to f6, baiting the white bishop to come to f5, pinning the knight down to the queen. Black simply brings his own knight to d7. At first glance, this move looks like a mistake by black. If white sees this and falls for the trap, though, it will be a huge mistake. Black can simply sacrifice his own queen with the forced moves that will win back white’s queen and put black in a dominating position.

Watch the video to the left to watch more detailed explanations of the Elephant Trap.