abcdefgh

Final position — White delivers mate

Alekhine's defence

Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate

White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Quinteros - Goossens, 1978)

The moves

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Bxf7+ Kd7 8.Qe2 e6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxe6#
1.e4Nf6
2.Nc3d5
3.exd5Nxd5
4.Bc4Nb6
5.Bb3Nc6
6.Nf3Bg4
7.Bxf7+Kd7
8.Qe2e6
9.h3Bxf3
10.Qxe6#

How the Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate works

The Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Alekhine's defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Bxf7+ Kd7 8.Qe2 e6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxe6#. 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 (Quinteros - Goossens, 1978). 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 & 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.

More Alekhine's defence traps

← Browse all chess traps