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Final position — White is winning

Benoni Defence

Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn #2

White wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall, Bill - Campelli, Cris, 1984.??.??)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.Be2 Qe7 9.O-O Nxe4 10.Qa4+ Nd7 11.Qxe4
1.d4Nf6
2.c4c5
3.d5e6
4.Nc3exd5
5.cxd5d6
6.e4g6
7.Nf3Bg4
8.Be2Qe7
9.O-ONxe4
10.Qa4+Nd7
11.Qxe4

How the Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn #2 works

The Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn #2 is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Benoni Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.Be2 Qe7 9.O-O Nxe4 10.Qa4+ Nd7 11.Qxe4. 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 (Wall, Bill - Campelli, Cris, 1984.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn #2 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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