Final position — Black is winning
Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hayes–Wall)
Black wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Hayes - Wall, Dayton 1980)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | d4 | Nxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe5 | d5 |
| 5. | Bd3 | Bd6 |
| 6. | f3 | Qh4+ |
| 7. | g3 | Nxg3 |
How the Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hayes–Wall) works
The Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hayes–Wall) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. 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.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Nxe5 d5 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.f3 Qh4+ 7.g3 Nxg3. 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 (Hayes - Wall, Dayton 1980). 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 (Hayes–Wall) 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.