Final position — White is winning
Sicilian Defence: Nxh7 Sacrifice
White wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Springett - Wead, 1995.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c5 |
| 2. | f4 | g6 |
| 3. | Nf3 | Bg7 |
| 4. | Nc3 | d6 |
| 5. | Bc4 | Bg4 |
| 6. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 7. | Ng5+ | Ke8 |
| 8. | Qxg4 | Nh6 |
| 9. | Qg3 | Qa5 |
| 10. | Nxh7 | Rxh7 |
| 11. | Qxg6+ |
How the Sicilian Defence: Nxh7 Sacrifice works
The Sicilian Defence: Nxh7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Sicilian Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c5 2.f4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.Bc4 Bg4 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Ng5+ Ke8 8.Qxg4 Nh6 9.Qg3 Qa5 10.Nxh7 Rxh7 11.Qxg6+. 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 (Springett - Wead, 1995.??.??). 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: Nxh7 Sacrifice 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.