Fried Liver Attack
Spot the mistake, then find the punishment
Starting positionWhite to move
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The temptation
5...Nxd5 is the move that springs the trap. Recapturing restores the central pawn balance and keeps a knight on d5. Black expects normal development after the exchange.
Why it works
6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ attacks both the king and the d5 knight. 7...Ke6 defends the knight, but exposes the king to 8.Nc3. Black has a knight for a pawn, not two extra pawns, and must defend carefully; the illustrative ...Nb4, ...c6 and ...Na6 continuation shows that the attack still requires calculation. This is a dangerous sacrifice, not a claim that every black defence loses by force.
Check and attack the knight together
From f3 the queen checks f7 and attacks d5. Ke6 defends that knight at the cost of bringing the king into the centre.
How to avoid it
After 5.exd5, 5...Na5 attacks the c4 bishop without inviting this king hunt. If choosing ...Nxd5, study the defensive variations rather than assuming the sacrifice is harmless.
The opening behind it
Learn the sound version of this line and the trick stops being tempting.