Final position — White is winning
Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Labourey - Dubois, Paris 1989)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 4. | Nc3 | Nbd7 |
| 5. | Ng5 | Qe7 |
| 6. | Bxf7+ | Kd8 |
| 7. | Bb3 | Ke8 |
| 8. | Nf7 |
How the Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice works
The Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Philidor's 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 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Ng5 Qe7 6.Bxf7+ Kd8 7.Bb3 Ke8 8.Nf7. 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 (Labourey - Dubois, Paris 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Philidor'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.