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Final position — White is winning

King's pawn game

Haxo Gambit [Bc5] Secondary Variation

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📗 Haxo Gambit [Bc5] Secondary Variation - Theory 💡 - C44 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Bxf7+ Nxf7 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d5 10.O-O
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.d4exd4
4.Bc4Bc5
5.Ng5Nh6
6.Bxf7+Nxf7
7.Nxf7Kxf7
8.Qh5+g6
9.Qxc5d5
10.O-O

How the Haxo Gambit [Bc5] Secondary Variation works

The Haxo Gambit [Bc5] Secondary Variation is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. 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 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Bxf7+ Nxf7 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d5 10.O-O. 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 (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📗 Haxo Gambit [Bc5] Secondary Variation - Theory 💡 - C44 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Haxo Gambit [Bc5] Secondary Variation 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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