Final position — White is winning
Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Zuccotti–Ricardi)
White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Zuccotti - Ricardi, Italy 1991)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | g6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | d5 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Bg7 |
| 5. | Bg5 | Ne4 |
| 6. | Nxd5 | Nxg5 |
| 7. | Nxg5 | e6 |
How the Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Zuccotti–Ricardi) works
The Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Zuccotti–Ricardi) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Gruenfeld Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.Nxd5 Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6. 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 (Zuccotti - Ricardi, Italy 1991). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Zuccotti–Ricardi) 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.