Final position — Black is winning
Italian Game: Max Lange Attack, Nxf7 Sacrifice
Black wins in 15 moves with a decisive material gain. (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📚 Main variation Nf6 - Theory 💡 - C56 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bc4 | Bc5 |
| 4. | O-O | Nf6 |
| 5. | d4 | exd4 |
| 6. | e5 | d5 |
| 7. | exf6 | dxc4 |
| 8. | Re1+ | Be6 |
| 9. | Ng5 | Qd5 |
| 10. | Nc3 | Qf5 |
| 11. | Nce4 | Bf8 |
| 12. | Nxf7 | Kxf7 |
| 13. | Ng5+ | Kg8 |
| 14. | g4 | Qxf6 |
| 15. | Rxe6 |
How the Italian Game: Max Lange Attack, Nxf7 Sacrifice works
The Italian Game: Max Lange Attack, Nxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 15, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Be6 9.Ng5 Qd5 10.Nc3 Qf5 11.Nce4 Bf8 12.Nxf7 Kxf7 13.Ng5+ Kg8 14.g4 Qxf6 15.Rxe6. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📚 Main variation Nf6 - Theory 💡 - C56 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Italian Game: Max Lange Attack, Nxf7 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.