Final position — White is winning
Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Pandolfini)
White wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Unknown - Pandolfini, New York 1967)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | e6 |
| 3. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 4. | Nxd4 | a6 |
| 5. | Bf4 | e5 |
| 6. | Bxe5 | Qa5+ |
How the Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Pandolfini) works
The Sicilian Defence: Wins a Pawn (Unknown–Pandolfini) 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 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bf4 e5 6.Bxe5 Qa5+. 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 (Unknown - Pandolfini, New York 1967). 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 (Unknown–Pandolfini) 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.