Final position — White is winning
Petrov's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice
White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kaspareit - Paulsen, Germany 1991)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Nxe4 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Nxc3 |
| 5. | dxc3 | d5 |
| 6. | Bxd5 | c6 |
| 7. | Bxf7+ |
How the Petrov's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice works
The Petrov's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 d5 6.Bxd5 c6 7.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 (Kaspareit - Paulsen, Germany 1991). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Petrov's Defence: 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.