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Final position — Black is winning

Queen's Pawn Opening

Queen's Pawn Opening: Wins a Piece

Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Bernstein - Unknown, Berlin 1903)

The moves

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.c4 e6 4.Ne5 Bf5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qb3 b6 7.e4 Bxe4 8.Bb5+ Ke7 9.Bc6 10.Nxc6+
1.d4d5
2.Nf3Bg4
3.c4e6
4.Ne5Bf5
5.cxd5exd5
6.Qb3b6
7.e4Bxe4
8.Bb5+Ke7
9.Bc6Nxc6

How the Queen's Pawn Opening: Wins a Piece works

The Queen's Pawn Opening: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's Pawn Opening. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.c4 e6 4.Ne5 Bf5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qb3 b6 7.e4 Bxe4 8.Bb5+ Ke7 9.Bc6 10.Nxc6+. 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 (Bernstein - Unknown, Berlin 1903). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Queen's Pawn Opening: 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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