Trap · played as Black
Ruy Lopez: Noah's Ark Trap
After 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4, White's natural 8.Qxd4?? walks into 8...c5 and 9...c4, the b3 bishop is boxed in by a wall of pawns and cannot escape.
A position this opening is aiming for.
- You play
- Black
- Variations covered
- 10
- What it wins
- Wins material
The main line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4 c5
How the trap springs
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4 c5 9.Qc3 c4 10.a4 cxb3
Traps are only worth knowing if somebody actually falls into them, so each one here was checked against what club players really play, not only against what an engine would.
Some of the variations
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4
- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4
…and 4 more in the trainer.
Train it
ChessReflex drills the branch points where a line splits rather than making you replay it move by move, so a repertoire this size is a handful of decisions instead of hundreds of moves. Free, and no account needed to start.
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