Final position — Black is winning
French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Schnabel–Cook)
Black wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Schnabel - Cook, Dayton 1980)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 4. | f3 | dxe4 |
| 5. | fxe4 | Qh4+ |
| 6. | g3 | Qxe4+ |
How the French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Schnabel–Cook) works
The French Defence: Wins a Pawn (Schnabel–Cook) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 dxe4 5.fxe4 Qh4+ 6.g3 Qxe4+. 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 (Schnabel - Cook, Dayton 1980). 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 Pawn (Schnabel–Cook) 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.