Final position — Black is winning
Centre Game: Knight Fork (Barnett–Eastwood)
Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Barnett - Eastwood, Postal 1949)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | d4 | exd4 |
| 3. | Qxd4 | Qf6 |
| 4. | Qe3 | Nh6 |
| 5. | Nc3 | Ng4 |
| 6. | Nd5 | Qc6 |
| 7. | Qf4 | d6 |
| 8. | Bb5 | Qxb5 |
| 9. | Nxc7+ |
How the Centre Game: Knight Fork (Barnett–Eastwood) works
The Centre Game: Knight Fork (Barnett–Eastwood) 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.Qxd4 Qf6 4.Qe3 Nh6 5.Nc3 Ng4 6.Nd5 Qc6 7.Qf4 d6 8.Bb5 Qxb5 9.Nxc7+. 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 (Barnett - Eastwood, Postal 1949). 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 (Barnett–Eastwood) 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.