Ruy Lopez, Mortimer Trap

Ruy Lopez, Mortimer Trap
The Mortimer trap
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
8  black rook  black king  black bishop  black queen  black king  black bishop  black king  black rook 8
7  black pawn  black pawn  black king  black pawn  black knight  black pawn  black pawn  black pawn 7
6  black king  black king  black pawn  black king  black king  black knight  black king  black king 6
5  black king  white bishop  black king  black king  white knight  black king  black king  black king 5
4  black king  black king  black king  black king  white pawn  black king  black king  black king 4
3  black king  black king  black king  white pawn  black king  black king  black king  black king 3
2  white pawn  white pawn  white pawn  black king  black king  white pawn  white pawn  white pawn 2
1  white rook  white knight  white bishop  white queen  white king  black king  black king  white rook 1
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
Position after 5...c6
Black wins a piece

The Mortimer Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez named after James Mortimer. The Mortimer Trap is a true trap in the sense that Black deliberately plays an inferior move hoping to trick White into making a mistake.

The trap begins with the moves:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Nf6

Black plays the Berlin Defense to the Ruy Lopez. Although the Berlin was much more popular in the 19th century than in the 20th, it "became the height of theory when Vladimir Kramnik used it as his main defense to defeat Garry Kasparov in their 2000 World Championship match".[1]

4. d3

White plays a quiet alternative to the more common 4.0-0, 4.d4, or 4.Nc3 (the last would transpose to the Four Knights Game). I.A. Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld wrote that 4.d3 is "Steinitz's move, with which he scored many spectacular successes during his long reign as World Champion."[2]

4. ... Ne7

The Mortimer Defense, intending to reroute the knight to g6. This rare move loses time and thus is inferior to other moves, but it sets a trap. White has many acceptable replies, but the tempting capture of the black pawn on e5 is a mistake.

5. Nxe5? c6!

(See diagram.) Attacking the white bishop and threatening 6...Qa5+. If the bishop moves (6.Ba4 or 6.Bc4), Black wins a piece with 6...Qa5+, forking the white king and knight.

6. Nc4

White's best try, covering a5 and thus preventing 6...Qa5+, and threatening smothered mate with 7.Nd6#.

6. ... d6!
7. Ba4 b5

Black forks the white bishop and knight, winning a piece for two pawns.

Mortimer played his defense at the 1883 London tournament against Berthold Englisch, Samuel Rosenthal, and Josef Noa, losing all three games.[3] Johannes Zukertort, the tournament winner, also played it against Englisch, the game resulting in a draw.[4] Zukertort wrote of 4...Ne7, "Mr. Mortimer claims to be the inventor of this move. I adopted it on account of its novelty."[5] The first edition of the treatise Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern analyzed 5.Nc3 Ng6 6.0-0 c6 7.Ba4 d6 8.Bb3 and now the authors gave either 8...Be6 or 8...Be7 as giving Black an equal game.[6] A bit more recently, Horowitz and Reinfeld observed of 4...Ne7, "This time-wasting retreat of the Knight to an inferior square blocks the development of the King Bishop ... . Yet it is a matter of record that this pitfall had a vogue for many years".[2]

Today, 4.d3 is rarely seen, and 4...Ne7 still less so. The latter move is not mentioned in either Modern Chess Openings (which relegates 4.d3 to a footnote, and mentions only 4...d6 in response)[7] or the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (which mentions only 4...d6 and 4...Bc5).[8]

Notes

  1. ^ De Firmian 2008, p. 43.
  2. ^ a b Horowitz & Reinfeld 1954, p. 59.
  3. ^ Minchin 1973, pp. 179, 257, 306.
  4. ^ Englisch-Zukertort
  5. ^ Minchin 1973, p. 22.
  6. ^ Freeborough & Ranken 1889, p. 127.
  7. ^ De Firmian 2008, p. 48.
  8. ^ ECO, pp. 332-333.

References

  • De Firmian, Nick (2008). Modern Chess Openings (15th ed.). Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7. 
  • Encyclopedia of Chess Openings. C (3rd ed.). 1997. 
  • Freeborough, E.; Ranken, C.E. (1889). Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern. Trübner and Co. 
  • Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996). The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-280049-3. 
  • Horowitz, I.A.; Reinfeld, Fred (1954). Chess Traps, Pitfalls and Swindles. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21041-6. 
  • Minchin, J.I., ed (1973 (reprint)). Games Played in the London International Chess Tournament 1883. British Chess Magazine. ISBN 90084608-9. 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ruy Lopez — a b c d e f g …   Wikipedia

  • Mortimer Trap — Chess diagram|= tright| = rd| |bd|qd|kd|bd| |rd|= pd|pd| |pd|nd|pd|pd|pd|= | |pd| | |nd| | |= |bl| | |nl| | | |= | | | |pl| | | |= | | |pl| | | | |= pl|pl|pl| | |pl|pl|pl|= rl|nl|bl|ql|kl| | |rl|= Position after 5...c6 Black wins a pieceThe… …   Wikipedia

  • James Mortimer — (April 22 1833 – February 24 1911) was an American chess player, journalist, and playwright who spent the last 40 years of his life in Britain.LifeBorn in Richmond, Virginia, Mortimer graduated from the University of Virginia. As an attaché in… …   Wikipedia

  • Chess trap — The term chess trap refers to a trap in the game of chess. List of chess traps Ordered by chess opening:*Albin Countergambit ndash; Lasker Trap *Blackmar Diemer Gambit ndash; Halosar Trap *Bogo Indian Defence ndash; Monticelli Trap *Budapest… …   Wikipedia

  • Index of chess articles — Contents 1 Books 2 General articles 2.1 0–9 2.2 A …   Wikipedia

  • List of chess traps — The term chess trap refers to a trap in the game of chess. List of chess traps Ordered by chess opening: Albin Countergambit – Lasker Trap Blackmar Diemer Gambit – Halosar Trap Bogo Indian Defence – Monticelli Trap Budapest Gambit – Kieninger… …   Wikipedia

  • List of chess openings — This is a list of chess openings, organized by the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) code. In 1966, Chess Informant categorized the chess openings into five broad areas ( A through E ), with each of those broken down into one hundred… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of chess — A game of chess, in the starting position. See also: Glossary of chess and Index of chess articles The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chess: Chess – two player board game played on a chessboard, a square …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”