Final position — White is winning
Alekhine's Defence: Knight Fork
White wins in 13 moves with a decisive material gain. (Richter - Jurgschat, Berlin 1952)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | e5 | Nd5 |
| 3. | d4 | d6 |
| 4. | c4 | Nb6 |
| 5. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 6. | e6 | fxe6 |
| 7. | Ng5 | Qd7 |
| 8. | Bd3 | e5 |
| 9. | Qh5+ | g6 |
| 10. | Bxg6+ | hxg6 |
| 11. | Qxg6+ | Kd8 |
| 12. | Nf7+ | Ke8 |
| 13. | Nxh8+ |
How the Alekhine's Defence: Knight Fork works
The Alekhine's Defence: Knight Fork is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Alekhine's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 13, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.e6 fxe6 7.Ng5 Qd7 8.Bd3 e5 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Bxg6+ hxg6 11.Qxg6+ Kd8 12.Nf7+ Ke8 13.Nxh8+. 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 (Richter - Jurgschat, Berlin 1952). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Alekhine's Defence: 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.