Final position — White delivers mate
Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Powers–Dake)
White wins in 10 moves by checkmate. (Powers - Dake, Milwaukee 1937)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | Nf6 |
| 2. | e5 | Nd5 |
| 3. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 4. | Bc4 | Nb6 |
| 5. | Bxf7+ | Kxf7 |
| 6. | Ng5+ | Kg8 |
| 7. | Qf3 | Qe8 |
| 8. | e6 | h6 |
| 9. | Qf7+ | Qxf7 |
| 10. | exf7# |
How the Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Powers–Dake) works
The Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Powers–Dake) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Alekhine's defence. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qf3 Qe8 8.e6 h6 9.Qf7+ Qxf7 10.exf7#. 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 (Powers - Dake, Milwaukee 1937). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Alekhine's Defence: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Powers–Dake) 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.