Final position — White delivers mate
Queen's Pawn Game: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate
White wins in 13 moves by checkmate. (Stapelfeld - Stock, Postal 1980)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | dxe4 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 4. | f3 | exf3 |
| 5. | Nxf3 | c6 |
| 6. | Bc4 | Nbd7 |
| 7. | Ng5 | Nd5 |
| 8. | Nxd5 | cxd5 |
| 9. | Nxf7 | Kxf7 |
| 10. | Qh5+ | g6 |
| 11. | Qxd5+ | e6 |
| 12. | Qxe6+ | Kg7 |
| 13. | Qf7# |
How the Queen's Pawn Game: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works
The Queen's Pawn Game: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 13, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Nbd7 7.Ng5 Nd5 8.Nxd5 cxd5 9.Nxf7 Kxf7 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qxd5+ e6 12.Qxe6+ Kg7 13.Qf7#. 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 (Stapelfeld - Stock, Postal 1980). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Queen's Pawn Game: Nxf7 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.