Final position — Black is winning
King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Saxton–Darting)
Black wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Saxton - Darting, 1936)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Qe6 |
| 5. | Nf3 | exf4+ |
| 6. | Kf2 | Bd6 |
| 7. | Bb5+ |
How the King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Saxton–Darting) works
The King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Saxton–Darting) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qe6 5.Nf3 exf4+ 6.Kf2 Bd6 7.Bb5+. 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 (Saxton - Darting, 1936). 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 Pawn (Saxton–Darting) 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.