Final position — White delivers mate
Ruy Lopez: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Capablanca–Meyer)
White wins in 11 moves by checkmate. (Capablanca - Meyer, New York 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 | cxd6 |
| 11. | Bxf7# |
How the Ruy Lopez: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Capablanca–Meyer) works
The Ruy Lopez: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (Capablanca–Meyer) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Ruy Lopez. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 11, 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 cxd6 11.Bxf7#. 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, New York 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: Bxf7 Sacrifice & Mate (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.