Final position — White is winning
Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hodova–Pop)
White wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Hodova - Pop, Herculane 1994)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | c3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | h3 | Nxe4 |
| 5. | Qa4+ | Nc6 |
| 6. | Qxe4 |
How the Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hodova–Pop) works
The Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hodova–Pop) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.h3 Nxe4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Qxe4. 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 (Hodova - Pop, Herculane 1994). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Hodova–Pop) 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.