Final position — Black is winning
French Defence: Wins a Piece (Muellen–Wagner)
Black wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Muellen - Wagner, 1990.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | exd5 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Bd6 |
| 5. | Bd3 | Bg4 |
| 6. | Bg5 | Bxf3 |
How the French Defence: Wins a Piece (Muellen–Wagner) works
The French Defence: Wins a Piece (Muellen–Wagner) 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.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Bg5 Bxf3. 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 (Muellen - Wagner, 1990.??.??). 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 (Muellen–Wagner) 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.