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Final position — Black is winning

Vienna Game

Vienna Game: Knight Fork (Wurzburger–Peifer)

Black wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wurzburger - Peifer, 1933.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.e5 Qe7 5.Qe2 Ng8 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d4 d6 8.Nd5 Qd8 9.Nxc7+ Qxc7 10.exd6+
1.e4e5
2.Nc3Nf6
3.f4exf4
4.e5Qe7
5.Qe2Ng8
6.Nf3Nc6
7.d4d6
8.Nd5Qd8
9.Nxc7+Qxc7
10.exd6+

How the Vienna Game: Knight Fork (Wurzburger–Peifer) works

The Vienna Game: Knight Fork (Wurzburger–Peifer) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Vienna Game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.e5 Qe7 5.Qe2 Ng8 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d4 d6 8.Nd5 Qd8 9.Nxc7+ Qxc7 10.exd6+. 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 (Wurzburger - Peifer, 1933.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Vienna Game: Knight Fork (Wurzburger–Peifer) 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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