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Final position — White is winning

Chess Opening

Bxf7 Sacrifice

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Goldberg - Lewin, 1982.??.??)

The moves

1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nxe4 e5 4.Bc4 Bf5 5.Qf3 Qd7 6.Ng5 Nc6 7.Bxf7+ Kd8 8.Be6 Bxe6 9.Qxf8+ Qe8 10.Nxe6+
1.Nc3d5
2.e4dxe4
3.Nxe4e5
4.Bc4Bf5
5.Qf3Qd7
6.Ng5Nc6
7.Bxf7+Kd8
8.Be6Bxe6
9.Qxf8+Qe8
10.Nxe6+

How the Bxf7 Sacrifice works

The Bxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nxe4 e5 4.Bc4 Bf5 5.Qf3 Qd7 6.Ng5 Nc6 7.Bxf7+ Kd8 8.Be6 Bxe6 9.Qxf8+ Qe8 10.Nxe6+. 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 (Goldberg - Lewin, 1982.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Bxf7 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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