Final position — White is winning
Pirc Defence: Wins a Piece
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Callow - Powell, Internet 1995)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | d6 |
| 2. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | g6 |
| 4. | f4 | c5 |
| 5. | dxc5 | Qa5 |
| 6. | cxd6 | Nxe4 |
| 7. | Qd5 | Nc5 |
| 8. | Bb5+ | Bd7 |
| 9. | Qxc5 |
How the Pirc Defence: Wins a Piece works
The Pirc Defence: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Pirc 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 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 c5 5.dxc5 Qa5 6.cxd6 Nxe4 7.Qd5 Nc5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Qxc5. 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 (Callow - Powell, Internet 1995). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Pirc Defence: Wins a Piece 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.