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Final position — White delivers mate

Bishop's opening

Bishop's Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate

White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Oskam - Grosjean, Rotterdam 1930)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4 Bb6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nxe4 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke6 8.Nxe4 Kxe5 9.Bb2+ Kxe4 10.Qf3#
1.e4e5
2.Bc4Bc5
3.b4Bb6
4.Nc3Nf6
5.Nf3Nxe4
6.Bxf7+Kxf7
7.Nxe5+Ke6
8.Nxe4Kxe5
9.Bb2+Kxe4
10.Qf3#

How the Bishop's Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works

The Bishop's Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Bishop's opening. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4 Bb6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nxe4 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke6 8.Nxe4 Kxe5 9.Bb2+ Kxe4 10.Qf3#. 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 (Oskam - Grosjean, Rotterdam 1930). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Bishop's Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate 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.

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