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Final position — White is winning

Evans Gambit

Evans Gambit: Bxf7 Sacrifice

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Gurack - Koerner, Cattolica 1993)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.d4 d6 7.Qb3 Kf8 8.Bxf7 g6 9.Bxg8 Rxg8 10.Bh6+
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.Bc4Bc5
4.b4Bxb4
5.c3Be7
6.d4d6
7.Qb3Kf8
8.Bxf7g6
9.Bxg8Rxg8
10.Bh6+

How the Evans Gambit: Bxf7 Sacrifice works

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

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.d4 d6 7.Qb3 Kf8 8.Bxf7 g6 9.Bxg8 Rxg8 10.Bh6+. 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 (Gurack - Koerner, Cattolica 1993). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Evans Gambit: 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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