[Event "Opening Traps in the Ruy Lopez: #3 The Tarrasch Trap"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/XJ2bd94v/dGcHXpZ1"]
[Date "1887"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tarrasch, Siegbert"]
[Black "Zuckertort, Johannes Hermann"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Jonnyx"]
[ECO "C83"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Open, Tarrasch Trap"]
[UTCDate "2020.06.12"]
[UTCTime "11:51:01"]
[Variant "Standard"]

{ You can watch the analyse of the game as a video aswell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGg4TO2jqWE&feature=youtu.be The Trap is named after Siegbert Tarrasch, one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th and early 20th century. Unlike many variations that appear only in analysis, Tarrasch actually sprung his traps against masters in tournament games. Even two masters actually fell for this trap against Tarrasch: Johannes Zukertort at Frankfurt in 1887 and Isidor Gunsberg at Manchester in 1890. } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 { The starting position of the Ruy Lopez. } 3... a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 { This variation is known as the Open Defence of the Ruy Lopez Opening. } 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 ( 7... exd4 $2 { taking the pawn is a mistake because of } 8. Re1 { [%cal Ge1e8] } 8... d5 9. Nc3 $1 { as played in the game Fischer, Bobby vs. Trifunovic, Petar in 1961. Black can not take the knight on c3 because after } 9... dxc3 ( 9... Be6 { was played in the game, but after } 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Rxe4 Be7 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Nxd4 O-O 14. Qg4 { Black had some difficultys to face because of the weak isolated pawn on e6. Fischer went on to win the game. [%csl Re6,Gd4,Ge4,Gg4,Gc1] } ) 10. Bxd5 Bb7 11. Bxe4 { Blacks king is in grave danger. White is allready clearly winning. Turn on the engine and play some moves in the position to understand how strong whites position is. [%csl Re8] } ) 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Re1 { White prepares the trap. } 10... O-O 11. Nd4 Qd7 $4 { This move loses the game right at the spot. Other options for black would have been: } ( 11... Nxe5 12. f3 { black can not retreat the knight because then the e5 knight would be loose. [%cal Re1e5] } 12... Bh4 { [%cal Gh4e1] } 13. Re2 Nf2 { [%cal Gf2d1] } 14. Rxf2 ( 14. Qd2 Ned3 { and now white needs to be really precise or he looses fast. For example: } 15. Bc2 ( 15. g3 $4 Bg5 { [%cal Gg5d2] } 16. f4 Nxf4 17. gxf4 Bxf4 18. Qxf4 Nh3+ { [%cal Gh3g1,Gh3f4] } 19. Kg2 Nxf4+ 20. Bxf4 { and black got a queen and 3 pawns for 3 pieces, while whites king doesn't have any shelter. Black is winning. [%csl Rg2] } ) 15... Nxc1 16. Qxc1 Bd7 17. g3 $4 Nh3+ 18. Kg2 Qf6 19. gxh4 Nf4+ 20. Kh1 Nxe2 21. Nxe2 Qxf3+ 22. Kg1 Qxe2 { and black is winning. } ) 14... Bxf2+ 15. Kxf2 { And white got 2 pieces for the rook and a pawn. Generally this would be preferable for the side with the two pieces in the middlegame, but white got some problems developping his queenside pieces, while black may can start an attack on the queenside. I think that both players can still fight for the win. [%csl Rf2,Ra1,Rb1,Rc1][%cal Gc7c5] } ) ( 11... Nxd4 12. cxd4 h6 13. f3 Ng5 14. Nc3 c5 { as played in Huebner, Robert (2615) vs Piket, Jeron (2615) played in 1992. } ) ( 11... Qe8 { as in Sulskis, Sarunas (2571) vs Svidler, Peter (2686) played in 2001. } ) 12. Nxe6 fxe6 ( 12... Qxe6 { doesn't help either because of } 13. Rxe4 $1 { and black can not take the rook because the queen would be hanging. [%cal Rd5e4,Gb3e6] } 13... dxe4 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Qd7 { [%cal Gd7c6,Gd7e6,Gd7e7] } 15... Rad8 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 17. Nd2 { stopping the backrank mate. White is clearly winning. [%cal Rd8d1] } ) 13. Rxe4 $1 { and after some more moves Zuckertort resigned. [%cal Rd5e4,Gd1d7] } 13... dxe4 14. Qxd7 Rfd8 15. Qxe6+ Kh8 16. Qxc6 { Backrank tricks don't work because of the bishop on b3 and so white is clearly winning. [%cal Rd8d1,Gb3d1] } 1-0