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Final position — White is winning

Sicilian Defence

Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Tulip–Clissold)

White wins in 12 moves with a decisive material gain. (Tulip - Clissold, Nottingham 1946)

The moves

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Nxg4 8.hxg4 Bxg4 9.Bxf7+ Kd7 10.Bd5 Ne5 11.Nxe5+ dxe5 12.Qxg4+
1.e4c5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.Bc4d6
4.O-ONf6
5.d3Bg4
6.h3Bh5
7.g4Nxg4
8.hxg4Bxg4
9.Bxf7+Kd7
10.Bd5Ne5
11.Nxe5+dxe5
12.Qxg4+

How the Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Tulip–Clissold) works

The Sicilian Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice (Tulip–Clissold) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 12, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Nxg4 8.hxg4 Bxg4 9.Bxf7+ Kd7 10.Bd5 Ne5 11.Nxe5+ dxe5 12.Qxg4+. 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 (Tulip - Clissold, Nottingham 1946). 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 (Tulip–Clissold) 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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