English Opening, King's English Variation, Three Knights System Trap

White gets a winning position on move 9

Master A27 Winning advantage Springs the trap: White

English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System (A27) is a real game that ended in a trap. On move 7, Black played 7...d6? — a natural-looking move — and White replied 8.Nb5. The result: White gets a winning position on move 9.

Watch the trap, then test yourself

The moves, one by one

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.

Tap a move to jump to it. The red move is the mistake.

Why the trap works

The mistake 7...d6 looks harmless, but it allows 8.Nb5. No piece is lost immediately, but the trapper gets a clearly winning position. With this single move the engine evaluation swings by roughly 2.5 pawns in White’s favour.

How to avoid it

Instead of 7...d6, safe options are Bxd4, Nxd4. The habit that saves you: before every natural-looking move, ask what your opponent’s best reply is — here it is 8.Nb5.

How to set it

Playing White? Follow the moves above up to move 7, then wait for 7...d6. If your opponent finds Bxd4 instead, just keep playing sound chess and look for the next chance.

Trap facts

Opening
English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System
ECO code
A27
Difficulty
Master
Springs the trap
White
The mistake
7...d6?
The punishment
8.Nb5
Safe moves
Bxd4, Nxd4
Game
Petek - Ptacnikova (1995)
Position before the mistake (FEN)
r1bqk1nr/pppp1pb1/2n3pp/3N4/2PN1B2/8/PP2PPPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 2 7

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Symmetrical VariationMaster Wins a rookA30 · Move 5King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation, Keres VariationMaster Wins a rookA23 · Move 6Anglo-Grünfeld DefenseSharp Winning advantageA16 · Move 8King's English Variation, Three Knights SystemSharp Wins a pieceA27 · Move 8King's English Variation, Two Knights VariationClub Winning advantageA22 · Move 6King's English Variation, Reversed Closed SicilianClub Winning advantageA25 · Move 6

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Frequently asked questions

What is the English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System trap?

English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System (A27) is a real game that ended in a trap. On move 7, Black played 7...d6? — a natural-looking move — and White replied 8.Nb5. The result: White gets a winning position on move 9.

How do you avoid the English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System trap?

Instead of 7...d6, safe options are Bxd4, Nxd4. The habit that saves you: before every natural-looking move, ask what your opponent’s best reply is — here it is 8.Nb5.

How fast does the English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System trap win?

White gets a winning position on move 9, after Black falls for 7...d6.


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