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Final position — White is winning

King's pawn opening

King's Pawn Opening: Wins a Pawn

White wins in 16 moves with a decisive material gain. (Inkeroinen - Heinola, Tampere 1984)

The moves

1.e4 g5 2.d3 h6 3.Ne2 d6 4.Ng3 Nf6 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.Bc3 h5 7.Be2 g4 8.Nd2 Nc6 9.d4 d5 10.e5 Ng8 11.Bb5 f5 12.f4 Qd7 13.Nb3 b6 14.Nxf5 Bf8 15.Qe2 a6 16.e6
1.e4g5
2.d3h6
3.Ne2d6
4.Ng3Nf6
5.Bd2Bg7
6.Bc3h5
7.Be2g4
8.Nd2Nc6
9.d4d5
10.e5Ng8
11.Bb5f5
12.f4Qd7
13.Nb3b6
14.Nxf5Bf8
15.Qe2a6
16.e6

How the King's Pawn Opening: Wins a Pawn works

The King's Pawn Opening: Wins a Pawn is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 16, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 g5 2.d3 h6 3.Ne2 d6 4.Ng3 Nf6 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.Bc3 h5 7.Be2 g4 8.Nd2 Nc6 9.d4 d5 10.e5 Ng8 11.Bb5 f5 12.f4 Qd7 13.Nb3 b6 14.Nxf5 Bf8 15.Qe2 a6 16.e6. 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 (Inkeroinen - Heinola, Tampere 1984). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the King's Pawn Opening: 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.

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