Final position — White is winning
Benko Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Kirchenhoff–Foldi)
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kirchenhoff - Foldi, 1986.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | c5 |
| 3. | d5 | b5 |
| 4. | cxb5 | a6 |
| 5. | Nc3 | axb5 |
| 6. | Nxb5 | Ba6 |
| 7. | e3 | Bxb5 |
| 8. | Bxb5 | Qa5+ |
How the Benko Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Kirchenhoff–Foldi) works
The Benko Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Kirchenhoff–Foldi) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Benko Gambit. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.Nc3 axb5 6.Nxb5 Ba6 7.e3 Bxb5 8.Bxb5 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 (Kirchenhoff - Foldi, 1986.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Benko Gambit: Wins a Pawn (Kirchenhoff–Foldi) 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.