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Final position — White is winning

Petrov's defence

Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Wall–Pathfinder)

White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Pathfinder, Internet 1996)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Nc3 Qe7 6.d3 g6 7.Bg5 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Bg7 9.Nd5
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nf6
3.Nxe5d6
4.Nf3Bg4
5.Nc3Qe7
6.d3g6
7.Bg5Bxf3
8.Qxf3Bg7
9.Nd5

How the Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Wall–Pathfinder) works

The Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Wall–Pathfinder) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. 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.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Nc3 Qe7 6.d3 g6 7.Bg5 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Bg7 9.Nd5. 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 (Wall - Pathfinder, Internet 1996). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Petrov's Defence: Wins a Pawn (Wall–Pathfinder) 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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