Final position — White delivers mate
Scandinavian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate
White wins in 8 moves by checkmate. (Balode - Sondore, Riga 1965)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | d5 |
| 2. | exd5 | Qxd5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Qd8 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Nf3 | Bg4 |
| 6. | Ne5 | Bh5 |
| 7. | Qxh5 | Nxh5 |
| 8. | Bxf7# |
How the Scandinavian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works
The Scandinavian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Scandinavian Defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Ne5 Bh5 7.Qxh5 Nxh5 8.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 (Balode - Sondore, Riga 1965). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Scandinavian Defence: 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.