Final position — Black is winning
French Defence: Wins a Piece
Black wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kotkov - Akopian, USSR 1966)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe4 | Bd7 |
| 5. | Nf3 | Bc6 |
| 6. | Bd3 | Nf6 |
| 7. | Nxf6+ | Qxf6 |
| 8. | Bg5 | Bxf3 |
| 9. | Qd2 | Qxd4 |
| 10. | Bb5+ |
How the French Defence: Wins a Piece works
The French Defence: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6 8.Bg5 Bxf3 9.Qd2 Qxd4 10.Bb5+. 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 (Kotkov - Akopian, USSR 1966). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: 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.