Final position — White is winning
Ruy Lopez: Wins a Piece
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Ellena, San Antonio 1970)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bb5 | a6 |
| 4. | Bxc6 | dxc6 |
| 5. | O-O | Bd6 |
| 6. | d4 | Qf6 |
| 7. | Bg5 | Qe6 |
| 8. | dxe5 | h6 |
| 9. | exd6 | Qxd6 |
| 10. | Bh4 |
How the Ruy Lopez: Wins a Piece works
The Ruy Lopez: Wins a Piece 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.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bd6 6.d4 Qf6 7.Bg5 Qe6 8.dxe5 h6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Bh4. 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 (Wall - Ellena, San Antonio 1970). 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 Piece 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.