Najdorf: The Nxe6 Queen Fork
Spot the mistake, then find the punishment
Starting positionWhite to move
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The temptation
11...Nf8 is the move that springs the trap. ...Nf8 defends the kingside and may look like a way to resist checks. Black forgets that Nxe6 has created a direct attack on d8.
Why it works
12.Nxd8 takes the queen. After ...Kxd8, White has exchanged a knight for a queen and pawn in this sequence. The g5 pawn and e6 knight had already removed two black pawns; Ne6 attacks both d8 and g7, but the queen is the valuable target. Moving ...Nf8 fails to answer it. This is a concrete oversight after Nxe6, not a blanket claim that ...g5 is always losing or that every Nxe6 sacrifice wins by force.
A central knight reaches the back rank
Ne6 attacks d8. Black's ...Nf8 does not defend the queen against that capture, even though it places a piece near the king.
How to avoid it
After 11.Nxe6, answer the attack on the queen: 11...Ne5 or 11...fxe6 requires careful calculation, whereas ...Nf8 simply overlooks Nxd8.
The opening behind it
Learn the sound version of this line and the trick stops being tempting.