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Final position — White is winning

Scandinavian Defence

Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Cagle–Wall)

White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Cagle - Wall, Bill, 1976.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 e6 3.dxe6 Bxe6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.d5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Bxd5 8.Qxd5 Bb4+
1.e4d5
2.exd5e6
3.dxe6Bxe6
4.d4Nf6
5.Nc3Bd6
6.d5Nxd5
7.Nxd5Bxd5
8.Qxd5Bb4+

How the Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Cagle–Wall) works

The Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Cagle–Wall) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Scandinavian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 e6 3.dxe6 Bxe6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.d5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Bxd5 8.Qxd5 Bb4+. 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 (Cagle - Wall, Bill, 1976.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Cagle–Wall) 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.

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