Final position — White is winning
English Opening: Wins the Exchange
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall, Bill - XFile, 1997.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | c4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | e4 |
| 4. | Ng5 | Be7 |
| 5. | Ngxe4 | d5 |
| 6. | Nxf6+ | Bxf6 |
| 7. | Nxd5 | O-O |
| 8. | e3 | b5 |
| 9. | Qf3 | Bb7 |
| 10. | Nxf6+ |
How the English Opening: Wins the Exchange works
The English Opening: Wins the Exchange is a classic chess opening trap arising from the English Opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5 Be7 5.Ngxe4 d5 6.Nxf6+ Bxf6 7.Nxd5 O-O 8.e3 b5 9.Qf3 Bb7 10.Nxf6+. 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 (Wall, Bill - XFile, 1997.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the English Opening: Wins the Exchange 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.