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Final position — White is winning

Chess Opening

Wins a Piece (Schoenau–Froka)

White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Schoenau - Froka, 1988.??.??)

The moves

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 e5 3.c4 Be6 4.Nc3 d4 5.Bxb7 dxc3 6.Bxa8 Bc5 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qa5
1.g4d5
2.Bg2e5
3.c4Be6
4.Nc3d4
5.Bxb7dxc3
6.Bxa8Bc5
7.Qa4+Bd7
8.Qa5

How the Wins a Piece (Schoenau–Froka) works

The Wins a Piece (Schoenau–Froka) is a classic chess opening trap. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 e5 3.c4 Be6 4.Nc3 d4 5.Bxb7 dxc3 6.Bxa8 Bc5 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qa5. 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 (Schoenau - Froka, 1988.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Wins a Piece (Schoenau–Froka) 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.

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