Final position — White is winning
King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Mascotti–Gedult)
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Mascotti - Gedult, France 1977)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | e4 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Qe2 | Bf5 |
| 6. | Nxe4 | Nxe4 |
| 7. | d3 | Qh4+ |
| 8. | g3 | Qe7 |
| 9. | dxe4 | Bxe4 |
How the King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Mascotti–Gedult) works
The King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Mascotti–Gedult) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bf5 6.Nxe4 Nxe4 7.d3 Qh4+ 8.g3 Qe7 9.dxe4 Bxe4. 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 (Mascotti - Gedult, France 1977). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Mascotti–Gedult) 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.