Final position — Black is winning
Centre Game: Knight Fork
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall, Bill - Duke, 1977.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | d4 | exd4 |
| 3. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 4. | Nxc3 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Bc4 | Nxe4 |
| 6. | Bf4 | Qe7 |
| 7. | Nd5 | Qd8 |
| 8. | Nxc7+ | Ke7 |
| 9. | Qd5 |
How the Centre Game: Knight Fork works
The Centre Game: Knight Fork is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Centre Game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nxe4 6.Bf4 Qe7 7.Nd5 Qd8 8.Nxc7+ Ke7 9.Qd5. 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 (Wall, Bill - Duke, 1977.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Centre Game: Knight Fork 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.