abcdefgh

Final position — Black is winning

Queen's gambit declined

Queen's Gambit Declined: Wins a Pawn

Black wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Unknown - Bruning, USA 1907)

The moves

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Bxb8 dxc3 6.Be5 cxb2 7.Bxb2 Bb4+
1.d4d5
2.c4e6
3.Bf4c5
4.Nc3cxd4
5.Bxb8dxc3
6.Be5cxb2
7.Bxb2Bb4+

How the Queen's Gambit Declined: Wins a Pawn works

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Wins a Pawn is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's gambit declined. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Bxb8 dxc3 6.Be5 cxb2 7.Bxb2 Bb4+. 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 (Unknown - Bruning, USA 1907). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Queen's Gambit Declined: Wins a Pawn 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.

More Queen's gambit declined traps

← Browse all chess traps