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Final position — White delivers mate

Queen's pawn game

Queen's Pawn Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate

White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Leisebein - Burk, Postal 1986)

The moves

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 h5 7.Qf3 Qc8 8.Bc4 e6 9.Bg5 Ng4 10.Qxf5 exf5 11.Bxf7#
1.d4d5
2.e4dxe4
3.Nc3Nf6
4.f3exf3
5.Nxf3Bf5
6.Ne5h5
7.Qf3Qc8
8.Bc4e6
9.Bg5Ng4
10.Qxf5exf5
11.Bxf7#

How the Queen's Pawn Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works

The Queen's Pawn Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, 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 Bf5 6.Ne5 h5 7.Qf3 Qc8 8.Bc4 e6 9.Bg5 Ng4 10.Qxf5 exf5 11.Bxf7#. 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 (Leisebein - Burk, Postal 1986). 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: 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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