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Final position — White is winning

Sicilian Defence

Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Kvist–Johannson)

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Kvist - Johannson, 1958.??.??)

The moves

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.e5 Nxe5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qxd8
1.e4c5
2.d4cxd4
3.c3dxc3
4.Nxc3d6
5.Nf3Nf6
6.Bc4Nc6
7.e5Nxe5
8.Nxe5dxe5
9.Bxf7+Kxf7
10.Qxd8

How the Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Kvist–Johannson) works

The Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Kvist–Johannson) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, 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.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.e5 Nxe5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.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 (Kvist - Johannson, 1958.??.??). 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 (Kvist–Johannson) 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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