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Final position — Black is winning

Bird's Opening, From's Gambit

Bird's Opening, From's Gambit: Nxh2 Sacrifice

Black wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Lowenthal - Wendeker, Lvov 1934)

The moves

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nh6 5.e4 Ng4 6.Qe2 O-O 7.Nc3 f5 8.d3 fxe4 9.dxe4 Nxh2 10.Nxh2 Bg3+ 11.Qf2 Rxf2
1.f4e5
2.fxe5d6
3.exd6Bxd6
4.Nf3Nh6
5.e4Ng4
6.Qe2O-O
7.Nc3f5
8.d3fxe4
9.dxe4Nxh2
10.Nxh2Bg3+
11.Qf2Rxf2

How the Bird's Opening, From's Gambit: Nxh2 Sacrifice works

The Bird's Opening, From's Gambit: Nxh2 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Bird's Opening, From's Gambit. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nh6 5.e4 Ng4 6.Qe2 O-O 7.Nc3 f5 8.d3 fxe4 9.dxe4 Nxh2 10.Nxh2 Bg3+ 11.Qf2 Rxf2. 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 (Lowenthal - Wendeker, Lvov 1934). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Bird's Opening, From's Gambit: Nxh2 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.

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