Final position — White is winning
King's Pawn Opening: Nxf7 Sacrifice
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Donaldson - Unknown, 1988)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nc6 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | d4 | Bg4 |
| 4. | d5 | Ne5 |
| 5. | Nxe5 | Bxd1 |
| 6. | Bb5+ | Qd7 |
| 7. | Bxd7+ | Kd8 |
| 8. | Nxf7+ | Kxd7 |
| 9. | Kxd1 |
How the King's Pawn Opening: Nxf7 Sacrifice works
The King's Pawn Opening: Nxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.d5 Ne5 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bb5+ Qd7 7.Bxd7+ Kd8 8.Nxf7+ Kxd7 9.Kxd1. 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 (Donaldson - Unknown, 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Opening: Nxf7 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.