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Final position — Black is winning

Old Benoni Defence

Old Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (D. Gurevich–GNUSURF)

Black wins in 16 moves with a decisive material gain. (D. Gurevich - GNUSURF, 1995)

The moves

1.d4 c5 2.d5 d6 3.e4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Na6 6.Be2 Nc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Bf4 O-O 9.h3 b5 10.e5 dxe5 11.Nxe5 b4 12.Nc6 Qd7 13.Nb5 Ncxd5 14.Ne5 Qd8 15.Nc6 Qb6 16.Bf3 Bb7
1.d4c5
2.d5d6
3.e4g6
4.Nc3Bg7
5.Nf3Na6
6.Be2Nc7
7.O-ONf6
8.Bf4O-O
9.h3b5
10.e5dxe5
11.Nxe5b4
12.Nc6Qd7
13.Nb5Ncxd5
14.Ne5Qd8
15.Nc6Qb6
16.Bf3Bb7

How the Old Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (D. Gurevich–GNUSURF) works

The Old Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (D. Gurevich–GNUSURF) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Old Benoni Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 16, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 c5 2.d5 d6 3.e4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Na6 6.Be2 Nc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Bf4 O-O 9.h3 b5 10.e5 dxe5 11.Nxe5 b4 12.Nc6 Qd7 13.Nb5 Ncxd5 14.Ne5 Qd8 15.Nc6 Qb6 16.Bf3 Bb7. 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 (D. Gurevich - GNUSURF, 1995). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Old Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (D. Gurevich–GNUSURF) 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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