Final position — Black is winning
Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Piece
Black wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Plath - Pohl, Postal 1988)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | dxe4 |
| 3. | Nc3 | e5 |
| 4. | Qe2 | Qxd4 |
| 5. | Qxe4 | Bb4 |
| 6. | Bd2 | Bxc3 |
How the Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Piece works
The Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5 4.Qe2 Qxd4 5.Qxe4 Bb4 6.Bd2 Bxc3. 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 (Plath - Pohl, Postal 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Piece 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.