Final position — White is winning
Englund Gambit: Knight Fork
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Bouttier - Charrier, France 1792)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | e5 |
| 2. | dxe5 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | Qe7 |
| 4. | Qd5 | h6 |
| 5. | Nc3 | g5 |
| 6. | Nb5 | Qd8 |
| 7. | Bd2 | Nge7 |
| 8. | Qd6 | Bg7 |
| 9. | Nxc7+ |
How the Englund Gambit: Knight Fork works
The Englund Gambit: Knight Fork is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Englund Gambit. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Qd5 h6 5.Nc3 g5 6.Nb5 Qd8 7.Bd2 Nge7 8.Qd6 Bg7 9.Nxc7+. 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 (Bouttier - Charrier, France 1792). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Englund Gambit: 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.