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Final position — Black is winning

Budapest Defence

Budapest Defence: Wins a Piece

Black wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wacker - Klein, Eisenberg 1993)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 Bc5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Be3 Bxe3 6.fxe3 Qh4+ 7.g3 Nxg3 8.hxg3 Qxh1
1.d4Nf6
2.c4e5
3.d5Bc5
4.Bg5Ne4
5.Be3Bxe3
6.fxe3Qh4+
7.g3Nxg3
8.hxg3Qxh1

How the Budapest Defence: Wins a Piece works

The Budapest Defence: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Budapest Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 Bc5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Be3 Bxe3 6.fxe3 Qh4+ 7.g3 Nxg3 8.hxg3 Qxh1. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.

This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Wacker - Klein, Eisenberg 1993). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Budapest Defence: Wins a Piece 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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