Final position — White is winning
Ruy Lopez: Wins a Piece (Foley–Hoffman)
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Foley - Hoffman, Ohio 1979)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bb5 | a6 |
| 4. | Bxc6 | dxc6 |
| 5. | O-O | f6 |
| 6. | d4 | exd4 |
| 7. | Nxd4 | Bc5 |
| 8. | Qh5+ | g6 |
| 9. | Qxc5 |
How the Ruy Lopez: Wins a Piece (Foley–Hoffman) works
The Ruy Lopez: Wins a Piece (Foley–Hoffman) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Ruy Lopez. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, 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 f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5. 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 (Foley - Hoffman, Ohio 1979). 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 (Foley–Hoffman) 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.