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Final position — Black is winning

Budapest Defence

Budapest Defence: Nxf2 Sacrifice (Preston–Wall)

Black wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Preston - Wall, Thailand 1973)

The moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 d6 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.h3 Nxf2 7.Kxf2 Bg3+ 8.Kxg3 Qxd1
1.d4Nf6
2.c4e5
3.dxe5Ng4
4.Nf3d6
5.exd6Bxd6
6.h3Nxf2
7.Kxf2Bg3+
8.Kxg3Qxd1

How the Budapest Defence: Nxf2 Sacrifice (Preston–Wall) works

The Budapest Defence: Nxf2 Sacrifice (Preston–Wall) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Budapest Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 d6 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.h3 Nxf2 7.Kxf2 Bg3+ 8.Kxg3 Qxd1. 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 (Preston - Wall, Thailand 1973). 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 (Preston–Wall) 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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