Final position — White is winning
Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (Knaak–Hector)
White wins in 18 moves with a decisive material gain. (Knaak - Hector, 1987.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | c4 | c5 |
| 3. | d5 | e6 |
| 4. | Nc3 | exd5 |
| 5. | cxd5 | Bd6 |
| 6. | g3 | Bc7 |
| 7. | d6 | Ba5 |
| 8. | Bg2 | O-O |
| 9. | Nh3 | Nc6 |
| 10. | O-O | Re8 |
| 11. | Nd5 | Re6 |
| 12. | Ng5 | Re5 |
| 13. | f4 | Re8 |
| 14. | Qd3 | g6 |
| 15. | f5 | c4 |
| 16. | Qxc4 | Ne5 |
| 17. | Qh4 | Nh5 |
| 18. | g4 |
How the Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (Knaak–Hector) works
The Benoni Defence: Wins a Pawn (Knaak–Hector) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Benoni Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 18, 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 Bd6 6.g3 Bc7 7.d6 Ba5 8.Bg2 O-O 9.Nh3 Nc6 10.O-O Re8 11.Nd5 Re6 12.Ng5 Re5 13.f4 Re8 14.Qd3 g6 15.f5 c4 16.Qxc4 Ne5 17.Qh4 Nh5 18.g4. 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 (Knaak - Hector, 1987.??.??). 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: Wins a Pawn (Knaak–Hector) 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.