Final position — White delivers mate
King's Gambit: Knight Mate
White wins in 7 moves by checkmate. (Meek - Unknown, New Orleans 1855)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | f4 | exf4 |
| 3. | Nf3 | d5 |
| 4. | Nc3 | dxe4 |
| 5. | Nxe4 | Bg4 |
| 6. | Qe2 | Bxf3 |
| 7. | Nf6# |
How the King's Gambit: Knight Mate works
The King's Gambit: Knight Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's gambit. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bg4 6.Qe2 Bxf3 7.Nf6#. 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 (Meek - Unknown, New Orleans 1855). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Gambit: Knight Mate 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.