Final position — Black is winning
Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Pawn (Shuler–E. Hall)
Black wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Shuler - E. Hall, USA 1990)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | Bf4 | c5 |
| 3. | Nf3 | cxd4 |
| 4. | Nxd4 | e5 |
| 5. | Bxe5 | Qa5+ |
| 6. | c3 | Qxe5 |
How the Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Pawn (Shuler–E. Hall) works
The Queen's Pawn Game: Wins a Pawn (Shuler–E. Hall) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Bxe5 Qa5+ 6.c3 Qxe5. 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 (Shuler - E. Hall, USA 1990). 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 Pawn Game: Wins a Pawn (Shuler–E. Hall) 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.