Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate
White wins in 7 moves by checkmate. (Hamlisch - NN, 1922.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | d6 |
| 2. | d4 | Nd7 |
| 3. | Bc4 | g6 |
| 4. | Nf3 | Bg7 |
| 5. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 6. | Ng5+ | Kf6 |
| 7. | Qf3# |
How the King's Pawn Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works
The King's Pawn Opening: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nd7 3.Bc4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Kf6 7.Qf3#. 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 (Hamlisch - NN, 1922.??.??). 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: Bxf7 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.