The Noah's Ark Trap is a family of traps in the

Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...

chess opening The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established Chess_theory#Opening_theory, theory. The other phases are the chess middlegame, middlegame and the chess endgame, endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''op ...

in which a white

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

is trapped on the b3-square by black pawns. The origin of the name is uncertain. The shape of the black pawns on a6, b5, and c4 may resemble an ark, or the name may suggest that the trap is " as old as Noah's Ark".

The trap

Chess masters have occasionally fallen victim to this trap. An example is a game between

Endre Steiner Endre (Andreas) Steiner (27 June 1901 – 29 December 1944) was a Hungarian chess player, born in Budapest. Endre Steiner played for Hungary in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads. * In 1927, he played at first reserve board at 1st ...

and

José Capablanca José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

at the Budapest tournament in 1929: :1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. d4 Better moves for White are 5.c3, 5.Bxc6+, and 5.

0-0 Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previousl ...

. :5... b5 6. Bb3 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

recommended this move in the tournament book for New York 1924 as a means for White to

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn most commonly refer to: * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Draw (tie), in a competition, where competitors achieve equal outcomes * Draw ...

, but it is a mistake that loses . White should instead play 8.Bd5 or try a

gambit A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe si ...

with 8.c3. :8... c5 9. Qd5 Be6 10. Qc6+ Bd7 11. Qd5 c4 (see diagram) The white is trapped. White

resigned Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

after 32 moves.

In the Sicilian

A variation of this trap can occur in the

Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. e4 c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...

after the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 (the Rossolimo Variation) 3... a6 4. Ba4?? (4.Bxc6 is necessary and is the point of 3.Bb5) 4... b5 5. Bb3 c4 (see diagram). The bishop is similarly trapped.

References

{{reflist Chess traps Noah's Ark in popular culture