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Final position — White is winning

Sicilian Defence

Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Ekenberg–Alfredsson)

White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Ekenberg - Alfredsson, Malmo 1966)

The moves

1.e4 c5 2.f4 e5 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nxe5 dxe4 5.Bc4 Nh6 6.Qe2 Bd6 7.Bb5+ Kf8 8.Qxe4 Qc7 9.Ng6+
1.e4c5
2.f4e5
3.Nf3d5
4.Nxe5dxe4
5.Bc4Nh6
6.Qe2Bd6
7.Bb5+Kf8
8.Qxe4Qc7
9.Ng6+

How the Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Ekenberg–Alfredsson) works

The Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Ekenberg–Alfredsson) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. 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 c5 2.f4 e5 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nxe5 dxe4 5.Bc4 Nh6 6.Qe2 Bd6 7.Bb5+ Kf8 8.Qxe4 Qc7 9.Ng6+. 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 (Ekenberg - Alfredsson, Malmo 1966). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Sicilian Defence: Knight Fork (Ekenberg–Alfredsson) 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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