Final position — White is winning
French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Van Steenis–Wechsler)
White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Van Steenis - Wechsler, Hastings 1947)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 4. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 5. | Qg4 | Ne7 |
| 6. | Qxg7 | Qe4+ |
| 7. | Kd1 |
How the French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Van Steenis–Wechsler) works
The French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Van Steenis–Wechsler) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Qg4 Ne7 6.Qxg7 Qe4+ 7.Kd1. 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 (Van Steenis - Wechsler, Hastings 1947). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Van Steenis–Wechsler) 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.