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Final position — Black delivers mate

King's knight opening

King's Knight Opening: Knight Mate (Abrikossowski–Parkov)

Black wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (Abrikossowski - Parkov, Moscow 1938)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qa5 5.Qe2 Nc6 6.d3 Bg4 7.Bd2 Nd4 8.Qxe5+ Qxe5+ 9.Nxe5 Nxc2#
1.e4e5
2.Nf3d5
3.exd5Qxd5
4.Nc3Qa5
5.Qe2Nc6
6.d3Bg4
7.Bd2Nd4
8.Qxe5+Qxe5+
9.Nxe5Nxc2#

How the King's Knight Opening: Knight Mate (Abrikossowski–Parkov) works

The King's Knight Opening: Knight Mate (Abrikossowski–Parkov) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's knight opening. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qa5 5.Qe2 Nc6 6.d3 Bg4 7.Bd2 Nd4 8.Qxe5+ Qxe5+ 9.Nxe5 Nxc2#. 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 (Abrikossowski - Parkov, Moscow 1938). 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: Knight Mate (Abrikossowski–Parkov) 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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