Final position — Black is winning
Reti Opening: Knight Fork
Black wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Chamness - Almgren, 1956.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | Nf3 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | dxe4 |
| 3. | Ng5 | Bf5 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Qe2 | Nc6 |
| 6. | Ngxe4 | Nd4 |
| 7. | Nxf6+ | gxf6 |
| 8. | Qd1 | Nxc2+ |
How the Reti Opening: Knight Fork works
The Reti Opening: Knight Fork is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Reti Opening. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.Nf3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Ng5 Bf5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Nc6 6.Ngxe4 Nd4 7.Nxf6+ gxf6 8.Qd1 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 (Chamness - Almgren, 1956.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Reti Opening: Knight Fork 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.