Final position — White is winning
King's Pawn Opening: Wins a Pawn (D. MacDonald–Basman)
White wins in 16 moves with a decisive material gain. (D. MacDonald - Basman, England 1981)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | g5 |
| 2. | d4 | h6 |
| 3. | Bd3 | Bg7 |
| 4. | h4 | gxh4 |
| 5. | Nf3 | d5 |
| 6. | e5 | c5 |
| 7. | c3 | Bg4 |
| 8. | Rxh4 | h5 |
| 9. | dxc5 | Nc6 |
| 10. | e6 | Bxe6 |
| 11. | Ng5 | Bg4 |
| 12. | Qb3 | Qc7 |
| 13. | Qxd5 | Nh6 |
| 14. | Na3 | Rd8 |
| 15. | Nb5 | Qb8 |
| 16. | Qc4 | Ne5 |
How the King's Pawn Opening: Wins a Pawn (D. MacDonald–Basman) works
The King's Pawn Opening: Wins a Pawn (D. MacDonald–Basman) 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.d4 h6 3.Bd3 Bg7 4.h4 gxh4 5.Nf3 d5 6.e5 c5 7.c3 Bg4 8.Rxh4 h5 9.dxc5 Nc6 10.e6 Bxe6 11.Ng5 Bg4 12.Qb3 Qc7 13.Qxd5 Nh6 14.Na3 Rd8 15.Nb5 Qb8 16.Qc4 Ne5. 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 (D. MacDonald - Basman, England 1981). 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 (D. MacDonald–Basman) 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.