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Final position — White is winning

Scandinavian Defence

Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Kelics–Simic)

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kelics - Simic, 1972.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4 5.Qa4+ N8c6 6.a3 Na6 7.d5 Nc5 8.Qb5 e6 9.dxc6 b6 10.Ke2 a5
1.e4d5
2.exd5Nf6
3.d4Nxd5
4.c4Nb4
5.Qa4+N8c6
6.a3Na6
7.d5Nc5
8.Qb5e6
9.dxc6b6
10.Ke2a5

How the Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Kelics–Simic) works

The Scandinavian Defence: Wins a Piece (Kelics–Simic) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Scandinavian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4 5.Qa4+ N8c6 6.a3 Na6 7.d5 Nc5 8.Qb5 e6 9.dxc6 b6 10.Ke2 a5. 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 (Kelics - Simic, 1972.??.??). 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 (Kelics–Simic) 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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