Final position — White is winning
Nimzovich Defence: Wins a Pawn
White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Belmondo - Gilardi, France 1989)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nc6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Bg4 |
| 5. | Be2 | Bxf3 |
| 6. | Bxf3 | Qxd4 |
| 7. | Bxc6+ |
How the Nimzovich Defence: Wins a Pawn works
The Nimzovich Defence: Wins a Pawn is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Nimzovich Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 Qxd4 7.Bxc6+. 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 (Belmondo - Gilardi, France 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Nimzovich Defence: 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.