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Final position — Black is winning

King's knight opening

King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Gunderam–Grava)

Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Gunderam - Grava, Postal 1970)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d4 Qe7 5.O-O fxe4 6.Ng5 Nf6 7.Bf7+ Kd8 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Ne6+
1.e4e5
2.Nf3f5
3.Bc4Nc6
4.d4Qe7
5.O-Ofxe4
6.Ng5Nf6
7.Bf7+Kd8
8.dxe5Nxe5
9.Ne6+

How the King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Gunderam–Grava) works

The King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Gunderam–Grava) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's knight opening. 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.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d4 Qe7 5.O-O fxe4 6.Ng5 Nf6 7.Bf7+ Kd8 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Ne6+. 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 (Gunderam - Grava, Postal 1970). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Gunderam–Grava) 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.

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