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Final position — Black is winning

Bird's opening

Bird's Opening: Bxh2 Sacrifice

Black wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Guischard - Gedult, Paris 1972)

The moves

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.d4 Ng4 6.Nc3 Bxh2 7.Bg5 Bg3+ 8.Kd2 f6 9.Bh4 Nf2 10.Qc1 Nxh1
1.f4e5
2.fxe5d6
3.exd6Bxd6
4.Nf3Nf6
5.d4Ng4
6.Nc3Bxh2
7.Bg5Bg3+
8.Kd2f6
9.Bh4Nf2
10.Qc1Nxh1

How the Bird's Opening: Bxh2 Sacrifice works

The Bird's Opening: Bxh2 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Bird's opening. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.d4 Ng4 6.Nc3 Bxh2 7.Bg5 Bg3+ 8.Kd2 f6 9.Bh4 Nf2 10.Qc1 Nxh1. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.

This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Guischard - Gedult, Paris 1972). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

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