Fried Liver Attack
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 · C57
Part of Two Knights Defense
Starting positionWhite to move
0 / 15
The king is the piece being attacked
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
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- 7.
- 8.
The idea
White sacrifices a knight on f7 to drag the black king into the middle of the board, where it can never be safe again.
Main line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3
What White wants
- Sacrifice on f7 and keep checking — the king cannot escape to safety
- Develop with Nc3, d4 and Bf4 while every Black move is forced
- Play for mate; if Black survives, the material often comes back
What Black wants
- Accept the knight and walk the king to a square where it can breathe
- Return material to get the king to safety as fast as possible
- Defend accurately — the whole line is a known theoretical battle
Key idea
Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.
The king is the piece being attacked
After ...Kxf7 and ...Ke6 the black king has no shelter and blocks its own pieces. White is down a knight but can bring every remaining piece to the attack with tempo.
Common mistake
Defending the f7 fork with ...Ke7 instead of ...Kxf7. The knight on f7 is then simply capturing on h8 next move and Black is a pawn down with a wrecked king.
Mistake example: Nxh8.
Representative position
The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.
r1bq1b1r/ppp3pp/2n1k3/3np3/2B5/2N2Q2/PPPP1PPP/R1B1K2R b KQ - 3 8
Analyze this positionTraps in this opening
Moves in this opening that look natural and lose.
All opening traps