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Final position — White is winning

King's Indian defence

King's Indian Defence: Wins a Pawn

White wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Norman - Vidmar, Hastings 1926)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nc6 9.Be3 Nd7 10.Ne2 Nde5 11.dxe5 Nxe5
1.d4Nf6
2.c4g6
3.Nc3Bg7
4.e4d6
5.Nf3O-O
6.Bd3Bg4
7.h3Bxf3
8.Qxf3Nc6
9.Be3Nd7
10.Ne2Nde5
11.dxe5Nxe5

How the King's Indian Defence: Wins a Pawn works

The King's Indian Defence: Wins a Pawn is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's Indian defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nc6 9.Be3 Nd7 10.Ne2 Nde5 11.dxe5 Nxe5. 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 (Norman - Vidmar, Hastings 1926). 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 Indian Defence: Wins a Pawn 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.

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