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Final position — White is winning

Alekhine's defence

Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice

White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Krejcik - Gottlieb, Germany 1922)

The moves

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe4 e5 6.Qf3+ Kg8 7.Ng5 Qf6 8.Qb3+
1.e4Nf6
2.Nc3d6
3.Bc4Nxe4
4.Bxf7+Kxf7
5.Nxe4e5
6.Qf3+Kg8
7.Ng5Qf6
8.Qb3+

How the Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice works

The Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Alekhine'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 Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe4 e5 6.Qf3+ Kg8 7.Ng5 Qf6 8.Qb3+. 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 (Krejcik - Gottlieb, Germany 1922). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Alekhine'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.

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