Final position — White is winning
Scotch Opening: Wins a Piece
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Milkman, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | d4 | f5 |
| 4. | exf5 | e4 |
| 5. | Ne5 | Nxe5 |
| 6. | dxe5 | d5 |
| 7. | Qh5+ | Ke7 |
| 8. | Bg5+ | Nf6 |
| 9. | exf6+ |
How the Scotch Opening: Wins a Piece works
The Scotch Opening: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Scotch Opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 f5 4.exf5 e4 5.Ne5 Nxe5 6.dxe5 d5 7.Qh5+ Ke7 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.exf6+. 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 - Milkman, Internet 1996). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Scotch 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.