Tarrasch Trap refers to two different chess opening traps in the Ruy Lopez that are named for Siegbert Tarrasch. Unlike many variations that appear only in analysis, Tarrasch actually sprung his traps against masters in tournament games.

Tarrasch Trap in the Open Variation

Two masters actually fell for this trap against Tarrasch: Johannes Zukertort at Frankfurt in 1887 and Isidor Gunsberg at Manchester in 1890. '''1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4''' '''6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Re1 0-0 11. Nd4 Qd7''' (see diagram) 12. Nxe6

Tarrasch Trap in the Steinitz Variation

The second Tarrasch Trap, sometimes referred to as the Dresden Trap, occurs in the Steinitz Variation. Tarrasch published analysis of this trap in 1891, but 18 months later Georg Marco fell into it in Tarrasch versus Marco, Dresden 1892. Tarrasch spent just five minutes thinking during the entire game. '''1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6''' 4. d4 Bd7 '''5. Nc3 Nf6 6. 0-0 Be7 7. Re1''' (see diagram) '''7... 0-0? 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Raxd8 11. Nxe5''' '''11... Bxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4''' 13. Nd3 f5 14. f3 Bc5+?! '''15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16. Bg5 Rd5 17. Be7 Re8 18. c4 1–0'''