Final position — Black is winning
Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Muir–Johnson)
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Muir - Johnson, Virginia 1987)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | d4 | exd4 |
| 4. | e5 | Qe7 |
| 5. | Be2 | Ne4 |
| 6. | O-O | Nc6 |
| 7. | Re1 | b6 |
| 8. | Bc4 | Nc5 |
| 9. | Bg5 |
How the Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Muir–Johnson) works
The Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Muir–Johnson) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Qe7 5.Be2 Ne4 6.O-O Nc6 7.Re1 b6 8.Bc4 Nc5 9.Bg5. 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 (Muir - Johnson, Virginia 1987). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Muir–Johnson) 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.