Final position — White delivers mate
Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Beaver - Adler, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nf6 |
| 3. | Nxe5 | Nxe4 |
| 4. | Nxf7 | Kxf7 |
| 5. | Qh5+ | Kf6 |
| 6. | Qf3+ | Ke5 |
| 7. | d4+ | Kxd4 |
| 8. | Qf5 | Qg5 |
| 9. | c3+ | Nxc3 |
| 10. | bxc3# |
How the Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works
The Petrov's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petrov's defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+ Kf6 6.Qf3+ Ke5 7.d4+ Kxd4 8.Qf5 Qg5 9.c3+ Nxc3 10.bxc3#. 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 (Beaver - Adler, Internet 1996). 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: Nxf7 Sacrifice & Mate 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.