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Final position — Black is winning

Philidor's defence

Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice #3

Black wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Fischer, Robert - Fine, R., 1963.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 c6 5.O-O Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Qe2 Ngf6 8.Rd1 Qc7 9.Ng5 O-O 10.Bxf7+ Rxf7 11.Qc4
1.e4e5
2.Nf3d6
3.d4Nd7
4.Bc4c6
5.O-OBe7
6.dxe5dxe5
7.Qe2Ngf6
8.Rd1Qc7
9.Ng5O-O
10.Bxf7+Rxf7
11.Qc4

How the Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice #3 works

The Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice #3 is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Philidor's defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 c6 5.O-O Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Qe2 Ngf6 8.Rd1 Qc7 9.Ng5 O-O 10.Bxf7+ Rxf7 11.Qc4. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.

This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Fischer, Robert - Fine, R., 1963.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Philidor's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice #3 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.

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