Final position — White delivers mate
King's Pawn Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Falkbeer–Unknown)
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Falkbeer - Unknown, Vienna 1947)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | d4 | exd4 |
| 4. | Bc4 | d6 |
| 5. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 6. | Nxc3 | Bg4 |
| 7. | O-O | Ne5 |
| 8. | Nxe5 | Bxd1 |
| 9. | Bxf7+ | Ke7 |
| 10. | Nd5# |
How the King's Pawn Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Falkbeer–Unknown) works
The King's Pawn Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Falkbeer–Unknown) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 d6 5.c3 dxc3 6.Nxc3 Bg4 7.O-O Ne5 8.Nxe5 Bxd1 9.Bxf7+ Ke7 10.Nd5#. 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 (Falkbeer - Unknown, Vienna 1947). 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 Game: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Falkbeer–Unknown) 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.