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Final position — Black delivers mate

Polish Opening

Polish Opening: Bxf2 Sacrifice & Mate

Black wins in 6 moves by checkmate. (Brichinova - Alexandrova, Bulgaria 1979)

The moves

1.b4 c6 2.Bb2 Qb6 3.a3 a5 4.c4 e6 5.c5 Bxc5 6.Bxg7 Bxf2#
1.b4c6
2.Bb2Qb6
3.a3a5
4.c4e6
5.c5Bxc5
6.Bxg7Bxf2#

How the Polish Opening: Bxf2 Sacrifice & Mate works

The Polish Opening: Bxf2 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Polish Opening. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.b4 c6 2.Bb2 Qb6 3.a3 a5 4.c4 e6 5.c5 Bxc5 6.Bxg7 Bxf2#. 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 (Brichinova - Alexandrova, Bulgaria 1979). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Polish Opening: Bxf2 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.

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