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Final position — Black is winning

Sicilian Defence

Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Teupe–Wittig)

Black wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Teupe - Wittig, Landau 1988)

The moves

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.f4 Bg7 7.e5 dxe5 8.Bb5+ Kf8 9.Ne6+
1.e4c5
2.Nf3d6
3.d4cxd4
4.Nxd4Nf6
5.Nc3g6
6.f4Bg7
7.e5dxe5
8.Bb5+Kf8
9.Ne6+

How the Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Teupe–Wittig) works

The Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Teupe–Wittig) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. 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 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.f4 Bg7 7.e5 dxe5 8.Bb5+ Kf8 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 (Teupe - Wittig, Landau 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Teupe–Wittig) 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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