abcdefgh

Final position — White is winning

King's knight opening

King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn

White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Sergeant - Senneck, England 1946)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 Nf6 5.dxe5 Nxe4 6.Nxe4 fxe4 7.Ng5 Bf5 8.Qd5 Qd7 9.Qxb7
1.e4e5
2.Nf3f5
3.Nc3d6
4.d4Nf6
5.dxe5Nxe4
6.Nxe4fxe4
7.Ng5Bf5
8.Qd5Qd7
9.Qxb7

How the King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn works

The King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's knight opening. 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 f5 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 Nf6 5.dxe5 Nxe4 6.Nxe4 fxe4 7.Ng5 Bf5 8.Qd5 Qd7 9.Qxb7. 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 (Sergeant - Senneck, England 1946). 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 Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn 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.

More King's knight opening traps

← Browse all chess traps