Final position — White is winning
Mortimer Trap - Ruy Lopez (black)
White wins in 7 moves with a decisive material gain. (Traps - Mortimer Trap - Ruy Lopez (black) - C65 - https://lichess.org/@/Hoobus)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | Nc6 |
| 3. | Bb5 | Nf6 |
| 4. | d3 | Ne7 |
| 5. | Nxe5 | c6 |
| 6. | Nc4 | d6 |
| 7. | Ba4 | b5 |
How the Mortimer Trap - Ruy Lopez (black) works
The Mortimer Trap - Ruy Lopez (black) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Ruy Lopez. In this line White wins decisive material by move 7, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Ne7 5.Nxe5 c6 6.Nc4 d6 7.Ba4 b5. 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 (Traps - Mortimer Trap - Ruy Lopez (black) - C65 - https://lichess.org/@/Hoobus). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Mortimer Trap - Ruy Lopez (black) 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.