Final position — White is winning
Italian Game: Knight Fork (Krabbe–Nieuwhuis)
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Krabbe - Nieuwhuis, Amsterdam 1959)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Be7 |
| 4. | d4 | exd4 |
| 5. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 6. | Qd5 | Nh6 |
| 7. | Bxh6 | O-O |
| 8. | Bc1 | Nb4 |
| 9. | Qh5 | Nc2+ |
How the Italian Game: Knight Fork (Krabbe–Nieuwhuis) works
The Italian Game: Knight Fork (Krabbe–Nieuwhuis) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Italian Game. 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.Bc4 Be7 4.d4 exd4 5.c3 dxc3 6.Qd5 Nh6 7.Bxh6 O-O 8.Bc1 Nb4 9.Qh5 Nc2+. 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 (Krabbe - Nieuwhuis, Amsterdam 1959). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Italian Game: Knight Fork (Krabbe–Nieuwhuis) 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.