Final position — White is winning
Ruy Lopez: Wins a Pawn (Capablanca–Meyer)
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Capablanca - Meyer, 1908.??.??)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bb5 | a6 |
| 4. | Ba4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | d4 | Nxe4 |
| 6. | d5 | Ne7 |
| 7. | Nxe5 | b5 |
| 8. | Bb3 | Bb7 |
| 9. | d6 | Nxd6 |
| 10. | Qxd6 |
How the Ruy Lopez: Wins a Pawn (Capablanca–Meyer) works
The Ruy Lopez: Wins a Pawn (Capablanca–Meyer) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Ruy Lopez. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d4 Nxe4 6.d5 Ne7 7.Nxe5 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.d6 Nxd6 10.Qxd6. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Capablanca - Meyer, 1908.??.??). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Ruy Lopez: Wins a Pawn (Capablanca–Meyer) in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.