Final position — White is winning
Larsen's Opening: Wins a Piece
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Shibut - Pugh, Philadelphia 1983)
The moves
| 1. | b3 | Nf6 |
| 2. | Bb2 | d6 |
| 3. | f4 | e5 |
| 4. | fxe5 | dxe5 |
| 5. | Bxe5 | Ng4 |
| 6. | Bg3 | h5 |
| 7. | h3 | Bd6 |
| 8. | Bxd6 | Qh4+ |
| 9. | g3 | Qxg3+ |
How the Larsen's Opening: Wins a Piece works
The Larsen's Opening: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Larsen's 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.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 d6 3.f4 e5 4.fxe5 dxe5 5.Bxe5 Ng4 6.Bg3 h5 7.h3 Bd6 8.Bxd6 Qh4+ 9.g3 Qxg3#. 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 (Shibut - Pugh, Philadelphia 1983). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Larsen's 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.