Final position — White is winning
French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Goldenov–Nekrassov)
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Goldenov - Nekrassov, Minks 1953)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 4. | e5 | c5 |
| 5. | dxc5 | Bxc3+ |
| 6. | bxc3 | Nc6 |
| 7. | Qg4 | Nxe5 |
| 8. | Qxg7 | Qf6 |
| 9. | Bh6 |
How the French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Goldenov–Nekrassov) works
The French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Goldenov–Nekrassov) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. 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 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Nc6 7.Qg4 Nxe5 8.Qxg7 Qf6 9.Bh6. 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 (Goldenov - Nekrassov, Minks 1953). 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 (Goldenov–Nekrassov) 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.