MORTIMER'S TRAP OF THE

RUY LOPEZ

Samantha212

| Nov 27, 2014 at 6:32 PM

| Posted in: Samantha212's Blog

| 1834 reads

| 2 comments

James Mortimer played chess

with the likes of Steinitz, Zukertort, Chigorin and
Blackburn in the 1880s and continued playing
tournament chess until his death in 1911 at the age
of 78. He was a playwright, a journalist and avidly
wrote about chess, having written 2 best-selling
chess books. He is also famous for his Mortimer's
Defense of the Ruy Lopez, which gained popularity
amongst Masters in his day and is now commonly
referred to as The Mortimer's Trap.
Mortimer's Defense is as follows:

1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bb5(The Ruy Lopez)

3... Nf6(The Berlin Defense)
4. d3Ne7(Mortimer's Defense was used to swing the knight over
to g6 to avoid being pinned to the king by the bishop. Mortimer's
trap arises when the d-pawn is pushed forward, instead of white
castling or moving to Nf3. The e5 pawn is left hanging - as a
poison pawn. If white takes e5, Black will open the diagonal for
the black queen to check the king and fork the bishop.)

Black's e5 pawn is now left hanging. Mortimer's Trap would

catch the unguarded player, who is hungry to capture
unprotected pawns. What is black's best move to punish
white for taking the "Poisoned e5 Pawn?"
What is white's best response to this attack?

Black needs to prevent a mate in one. What can be done?

How does this end for white?
The above examples show 6. ...d6 as black's best defense
against a mate in one. Here's an example of how black
loses the advantage if he pushes the d-pawn to ...d5:
1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bb5Nf64. d3Ne75. Nxe5c66. Nc4d57. e5(I
f the d-pawn was on d6 it could take the e5 pawn and avert the
threat)
7... cxb5(Don't even think of saving the f6 knight. It could
lead to a mate in
one 7... Nd78. Nd6#)8. Nd6+Kd7(8... Qxd69. exd6The
black queen is lost if it takes the attacking
knight )9. Nxf7Qc710. Nxh8Qxe5+11. Kf1