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Final position — White is winning

Ruy Lopez

Ruy Lopez: Nxf7 Sacrifice

White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Lepine, Internet 1997)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 a5 7.Ng5 b4 8.Nxf7 Qe7 9.Nb5
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.Bb5a6
4.Ba4b5
5.Bb3Nf6
6.Nc3a5
7.Ng5b4
8.Nxf7Qe7
9.Nb5

How the Ruy Lopez: Nxf7 Sacrifice works

The Ruy Lopez: Nxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Ruy Lopez. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 a5 7.Ng5 b4 8.Nxf7 Qe7 9.Nb5. 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 (Wall - Lepine, Internet 1997). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Ruy Lopez: Nxf7 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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