abcdefgh

Final position — Black delivers mate

Budapest Defence

Budapest Defence: Nxf2 Sacrifice & Mate

Black wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Fomin - Fedossov, USSR 1988)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nc3 d6 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.h3 Nxf2 7.Kxf2 Qh4+ 8.Kf3 Qg3+ 9.Ke4 Bf5+ 10.Kxf5 Qg6#
1.d4Nf6
2.c4e5
3.dxe5Ng4
4.Nc3d6
5.exd6Bxd6
6.h3Nxf2
7.Kxf2Qh4+
8.Kf3Qg3+
9.Ke4Bf5+
10.Kxf5Qg6#

How the Budapest Defence: Nxf2 Sacrifice & Mate works

The Budapest Defence: Nxf2 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Budapest Defence. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nc3 d6 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.h3 Nxf2 7.Kxf2 Qh4+ 8.Kf3 Qg3+ 9.Ke4 Bf5+ 10.Kxf5 Qg6#. 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 (Fomin - Fedossov, USSR 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Budapest Defence: Nxf2 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.

More Budapest Defence traps

← Browse all chess traps