Final position — White is winning
French Defence: Bxh7 Sacrifice
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Durao - Horta, Lisbon 1954)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Bg5 | Be7 |
| 4. | Bd3 | O-O |
| 5. | Nc3 | Nxe4 |
| 6. | Bxe7 | Nxc3 |
| 7. | Bxh7+ | Kh8 |
| 8. | Qh5 |
How the French Defence: Bxh7 Sacrifice works
The French Defence: Bxh7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 Be7 4.Bd3 O-O 5.Nc3 Nxe4 6.Bxe7 Nxc3 7.Bxh7+ Kh8 8.Qh5. 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 (Durao - Horta, Lisbon 1954). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: Bxh7 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.