Final position — Black is winning
King's Gambit: Wins a Piece
Black wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Ross - Wall, North Carolina 1978)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | exf4 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 4. | d3 | d5 |
| 5. | exd5 | Nxd5 |
| 6. | Qh5 | c6 |
| 7. | Bxf4 | Qe7+ |
| 8. | Qe5 | Nxf4 |
How the King's Gambit: Wins a Piece works
The King's Gambit: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Qh5 c6 7.Bxf4 Qe7+ 8.Qe5 Nxf4. 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 (Ross - Wall, North Carolina 1978). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Gambit: Wins a Piece 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.