Final position — Black is winning
Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Steinberg)
Black wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Unknown - Steinberg, Postal 1976)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | g6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | d5 |
| 4. | Bg5 | Ne4 |
| 5. | cxd5 | Nxg5 |
| 6. | h4 | Ne4 |
| 7. | Nxe4 | Qxd5 |
| 8. | Nc5 | e5 |
| 9. | Nf3 | exd4 |
| 10. | Qa4+ | Nc6 |
| 11. | Nb3 | b5 |
How the Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Steinberg) works
The Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Steinberg) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Gruenfeld Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.cxd5 Nxg5 6.h4 Ne4 7.Nxe4 Qxd5 8.Nc5 e5 9.Nf3 exd4 10.Qa4+ Nc6 11.Nb3 b5. 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 (Unknown - Steinberg, Postal 1976). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Gruenfeld Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Steinberg) 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.