Final position — Black is winning
Polish Opening: Wins a Pawn (Meybohm–Kucharkowski)
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Meybohm - Kucharkowski, Germany 1988)
The moves
| 1. | b4 | e5 |
| 2. | Bb2 | Bxb4 |
| 3. | f4 | d6 |
| 4. | e4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Qe2 | O-O |
| 6. | f5 | d5 |
| 7. | Bxe5 | Re8 |
| 8. | Bxf6 | Qxf6 |
| 9. | c3 | Rxe4 |
How the Polish Opening: Wins a Pawn (Meybohm–Kucharkowski) works
The Polish Opening: Wins a Pawn (Meybohm–Kucharkowski) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Polish Opening. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.f4 d6 4.e4 Nf6 5.Qe2 O-O 6.f5 d5 7.Bxe5 Re8 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.c3 Rxe4. 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 (Meybohm - Kucharkowski, Germany 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Polish Opening: Wins a Pawn (Meybohm–Kucharkowski) 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.