Final position — White is winning
Four Knights, Scotch Variation: Wins a Piece (Valenta–Gotz)
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Valenta - Gotz, Czechoslovakia 1994)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | d4 | exd4 |
| 5. | Nxd4 | d5 |
| 6. | Bb5 | Qd6 |
| 7. | exd5 | Nxd5 |
| 8. | Nxc6 | bxc6 |
| 9. | Qxd5 |
How the Four Knights, Scotch Variation: Wins a Piece (Valenta–Gotz) works
The Four Knights, Scotch Variation: Wins a Piece (Valenta–Gotz) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Four Knights, Scotch Variation. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 d5 6.Bb5 Qd6 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Qxd5. 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 (Valenta - Gotz, Czechoslovakia 1994). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Four Knights, Scotch Variation: Wins a Piece (Valenta–Gotz) 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.