You got the "fork trick"...now what?

When I read Beating the Open Games by Mihail Marin, I was quite surprised to learn that the Four Knights Game was one of the richest, most deeply-analyzed openings in all of chess. I had always sort of dismissed it as a "children's opening" – that's anything but the case.

Of course, I'm not going to retread those well-worn paths in this post. Instead, I want to take a closer look at a line that is often a footnote in opening manuals - the infamous "Fork Trick" line of the Four Knights "Italian" variation:

Why Bother?

The "Fork Trick" gets Black an equal game on move 4. Why study this opening line at all?

1. At my humble rating level, I face it a lot as Black.
2. I really want to score better from this position! I need to better understand Black's plans and White's common mistakes.

I'm writing this primarily for myself - so if you clicked this hoping for a thorough analysis of the Four Knights Game...look elsewhere. While I do have more lines in the associated Study (including several crazy Engine lines) – here I only cover a few key moves and plans I derived from my analysis.

Don't Fear Bxf7+

Let's start with the elephant in the room: what if White sidesteps the fork and plays (let's face it, the slightly obnoxious) Bxf7+?!

First of all, this is not a sacrifice. Material is equal, but the Black king has lost castling rights. Has to be bad for Black...right?

Not so fast:

1. Black is almost fully developed
2. White is soon on their back-foot: knights forced to retreat after Black plays d5
3. White's attack is too slow to exploit Black's uncastled King - who is actually quite safe.

Note that Stockfish agrees: approximately -1.0 evaluation.

On the last point – King safety – a common response to d5 is to check the King. Annoying, but often it's the White Knight that is forced back to a "grim" square:

Don't Play Bc5

---

After chasing back the White knights, I often have played Bc5 – a "natural" move to complete development. In fact, Qf6 is better (but one of the least played in the Lichess games db). Qf6 stifles White's wild stab at initiative: Qh5+

Of course, after g6 Black still has a clear advantage (-2.2), but in fast time controls you're letting White steer the game. Better to disallow it.

Model Game: So – Mamedyarov

---

Interestingly, I found a super-GM game for this line:

Main Line Insights

Play Ne7 asap!

---

Ok, but what about the main line of this opening? White wants to play Bxc6 – giving up the bishop pair, but saddling you with doubled pawns and long-term endgame disadvantage.

Don't let them! Play Ne7 at the earliest opportunity. For example, if White plays d3 (to develop their dark-square Bishop):

Forget the Early Pin

---

If White castles kingside, then pinning the knight with Bg4 is a natural move. From both my own games and this analysis, I've found it often causes more problems for Black than White. Pins should create a clear threat, such as winning a pawn - not merely cause annoyance.

Here, White again gets to "steer" the game, pushing back Black's bishop:

I'll admit, I don't yet have a clear grasp of why sometimes White is completely safe moving pawns like this. Thoughts / analysis in comments would be appreciated.

Watch out for d4

---

Granted, my analysis is not deep, but it seems that an early d4 by White is something to watch out for. It results in a tactical game while allowing flexible castling options. If White plays d4, you better lock in:

If White Plays c3...consider Kh8

---

This is one of those things I don't always understand....when to play the "safety" move, Kh8. Answer: if you intend to play f5!

Model Game: So – Mamedyarov (again!)

These two crazy guys just love this opening I guess?!

Sideline: Bxd5?!

The mainline of the Fork Trick is to retreat the Bishop – keeping the pair. But what if they give up the Bishop? Much like the Bxf7 line, this is definitely NOT equal for White.

But it begs the question: after the inevitable Bxd5 Qxd5 Nc3 – where does the Queen go?

Qd6 or Qd8?

---

I had always played the Queen back to her home: Qd8. I didn't want to block my bishop! But it turns out Qd6 (blocking the bishop!) is the better move. Black's plan is to castle long and attack the kingside. White is already too slow.

Ignore the "Bishop Hunters"

---

Another common "strategy" at lower rating levels is to go "Bishop hunting." Sometimes you should save your bishops, but other times - as in this line - you can disregard the "threat."

White has moved their knight too many times. Even though they’ve captured the bishop, they are now critically behind in development—and Black's pawn storm will swoop in fast.

Sideline: b3?!

What if White decides to pile-up on Black's e5 strong point with a fianchettoed bishop on b2? Don't laugh, I faced this OTB at the Eastern Chess Congress last year (and the resulting loss is partially my motivation for this study).

The idea is to harass White's Bishop while simultaneously disallowing the "thematic" Bxc6 pawn-doubling maneuver. White doesn't even get to play the fianchetto!

Quiz Time

Let's conclude with some "Interactive Lessons" extracted from these analyses: