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Final position — Black is winning

Petroff's Defence

Petroff's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice

Black wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Lazarev - Kundichev, Moscow 1982)

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.d4 Nxe4 6.Qh5+ Ke7 7.Qe2
1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nf6
3.Nxe5d6
4.Nxf7Kxf7
5.d4Nxe4
6.Qh5+Ke7
7.Qe2

How the Petroff's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice works

The Petroff's Defence: Nxf7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Petroff's Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.

The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.d4 Nxe4 6.Qh5+ Ke7 7.Qe2. 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 (Lazarev - Kundichev, Moscow 1982). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Petroff's Defence: 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.

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