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Final position — Black is winning

Petrov's defence

Oh no my knight!

Black wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Lowens - Stafford, Postal 1950)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.e5 Ne4 6.d3 Bc5 7.dxe4 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qxd1
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nf6
3.Nxe5Nc6
4.Nxc6dxc6
5.e5Ne4
6.d3Bc5
7.dxe4Bxf2+
8.Kxf2Qxd1

How the Oh no my knight! works

The Oh no my knight! is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.e5 Ne4 6.d3 Bc5 7.dxe4 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qxd1. 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 (Lowens - Stafford, Postal 1950). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Oh no my 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.

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