Final position — White is winning
Benoni Defence: Knight Fork
White wins in 14 moves with a decisive material gain. (Lev - Karp, Tel Aviv 1990)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | c5 |
| 3. | d5 | e6 |
| 4. | Nc3 | exd5 |
| 5. | cxd5 | d6 |
| 6. | Nf3 | g6 |
| 7. | Bf4 | b6 |
| 8. | e4 | Bg7 |
| 9. | Bb5+ | Bd7 |
| 10. | Bxd6 | Bxb5 |
| 11. | Nxb5 | Nxe4 |
| 12. | Nc7+ | Kd7 |
| 13. | Bf4 | g5 |
| 14. | Nxg5 |
How the Benoni Defence: Knight Fork works
The Benoni Defence: Knight Fork is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Benoni 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.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.Bf4 b6 8.e4 Bg7 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxd6 Bxb5 11.Nxb5 Nxe4 12.Nc7+ Kd7 13.Bf4 g5 14.Nxg5. 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 (Lev - Karp, Tel Aviv 1990). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Benoni 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.