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Final position — White is winning

Budapest Defence

Budapest Defence: Bxf2 Sacrifice

White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Zak - Mieses, London 1944)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e4 Nc6 6.Bg5 Bxf2+ 7.Ke2 Nd4+ 8.Qxd4 Bxd4 9.Bxd8 Bxb2
1.d4Nf6
2.c4e5
3.dxe5Ng4
4.Nf3Bc5
5.e4Nc6
6.Bg5Bxf2+
7.Ke2Nd4+
8.Qxd4Bxd4
9.Bxd8Bxb2

How the Budapest Defence: Bxf2 Sacrifice works

The Budapest Defence: Bxf2 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Budapest Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e4 Nc6 6.Bg5 Bxf2+ 7.Ke2 Nd4+ 8.Qxd4 Bxd4 9.Bxd8 Bxb2. 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 (Zak - Mieses, London 1944). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Budapest Defence: Bxf2 Sacrifice 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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