Final position — White is winning
Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Zardus–Steventon)
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Zardus - Steventon, 1986.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | d4 | cxd4 |
| 3. | c3 | dxc3 |
| 4. | Nxc3 | d6 |
| 5. | Bc4 | Nf6 |
| 6. | e5 | dxe5 |
| 7. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 8. | Qxd8 |
How the Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Zardus–Steventon) works
The Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Zardus–Steventon) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian 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 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.e5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8. 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 (Zardus - Steventon, 1986.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Zardus–Steventon) 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.