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Final position — Black is winning

King's pawn game

Haxo Gambit [Bc5] c3

Black wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Scotch Gambit - Crush your opponent! - 📓 Haxo Gambit [Bc5] c3 - Theory 💡 - C44 - https://lichess.org/@/BZ333)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 dxc3 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 cxb2 10.Bxb2 Nf6 11.Qc1
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.d4exd4
4.Bc4Bc5
5.c3dxc3
6.Bxf7+Kxf7
7.Qd5+Ke8
8.Qh5+g6
9.Qxc5cxb2
10.Bxb2Nf6
11.Qc1

How the Haxo Gambit [Bc5] c3 works

The Haxo Gambit [Bc5] c3 is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn game. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 dxc3 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 cxb2 10.Bxb2 Nf6 11.Qc1. 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! - 📓 Haxo Gambit [Bc5] c3 - Theory 💡 - C44 - 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 Haxo Gambit [Bc5] c3 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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