Final position — Black is winning
French Defence: Wins a Piece (Hieser–Shue)
Black wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Hieser - Shue, Australia 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 4. | e5 | Qd7 |
| 5. | Nf3 | b6 |
| 6. | Bb5 | Bxc3+ |
| 7. | bxc3 | Qxb5 |
How the French Defence: Wins a Piece (Hieser–Shue) works
The French Defence: Wins a Piece (Hieser–Shue) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Qd7 5.Nf3 b6 6.Bb5 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Qxb5. 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 (Hieser - Shue, Australia 1996). 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 (Hieser–Shue) 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.