Final position — White is winning
Sacrifice the Knight!
White wins in 14 moves with a decisive material gain. (50 Opening Traps,Part 1 - Sacrifice the Knight! - C55 - https://lichess.org/@/CHESSLUCAFD)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 4. | d3 | h6 |
| 5. | Bb3 | Bc5 |
| 6. | c3 | Bb6 |
| 7. | Nbd2 | d6 |
| 8. | Nf1 | Bg4 |
| 9. | h3 | Bh5 |
| 10. | Ng3 | Bxf3 |
| 11. | Qxf3 | O-O |
| 12. | Nf5 | Ne7 |
| 13. | Nxh6+ | gxh6 |
| 14. | Qxf6 |
How the Sacrifice the Knight! works
The Sacrifice the Knight! is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Two Knights Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 14, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.Bb3 Bc5 6.c3 Bb6 7.Nbd2 d6 8.Nf1 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Ng3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 O-O 12.Nf5 Ne7 13.Nxh6+ gxh6 14.Qxf6. 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 (50 Opening Traps,Part 1 - Sacrifice the Knight! - C55 - https://lichess.org/@/CHESSLUCAFD). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Sacrifice the Knight! 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.