Tarrasch Trap refers to two different chess opening

Chess opening

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...

 trap

Chess trap

- List of chess traps :Ordered by chess opening:*Albin Countergambit – Lasker Trap*Blackmar-Diemer Gambit – Halosar Trap*Bogo-Indian Defence – Monticelli Trap*Budapest Gambit – Kieninger Trap...

s in the Ruy Lopez

Ruy Lopez

The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del...

 that are named for Siegbert Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....

.
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: Zukertort

Johannes Zukertort

Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he...

 at Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

 in 1887 and Gunsberg

Isidor Gunsberg

Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional....

 at Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 in 1890.

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

4. Ba4 Nf6

5. O-O Nxe4

This is the Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez.

6. d4 b5

7. Bb3 d5

8. dxe5 Be6

9. c3 Be7

10. Re1 O-O

11. Nd4 Qd7?

Falling into the trap (see diagram).

12. Nxe6

Black's pawn

Pawn (chess)

The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...

 on d5 will be pinned

Pin (chess)

In chess, a pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece...

 (along the d-file or along the b2-g8 diagonal) no matter how he recaptures.
After 12...Qxe6 or 12...fxe6 White wins a piece with 13.Rxe4. If Black plays 13...dxe4, he loses his Queen in either scenario.

Tarrasch Trap in the Steinitz Variation

The second Tarrasch Trap occurs in the Steinitz Variation

Steinitz Variation

Steinitz Variation is the name given to several chess openings adopted or advocated by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first officially recognized World Chess Champion....

.
Tarrasch published analysis of this trap in 1891, but 18 months later Marco

Georg Marco

Georg Marco was a Romanian chess player.He was born in Chernivtsi , Bukovina...

 fell into it in Tarrasch–Marco Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 1892. Tarrasch spent just 5 minutes of thinking for the whole game.

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 d6

This is the Steinitz Variation of the Ruy Lopez.

4. d4 Bd7

Black breaks the pin to meet the threat of 5.d5.

5. Nc3 Nf6

6. O-O Be7

7. Re1

Laying a subtle trap (see diagram).
Castling

Castling

Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...

 seems natural for Black, but instead 7...exd4 is better.

7. ... O-O?

8. Bxc6 Bxc6

9. dxe5 dxe5

10. Qxd8 Raxd8

11. Nxe5

Black's best move here is probably 11...Bd7, although White would remain a pawn ahead.

11. ... Bxe4

12. Nxe4 Nxe4

Now 13.Rxe4?? would be a horrible blunder

Blunder (chess)

In chess, a blunder is a very bad move. It is usually caused by some tactical oversight, whether from time trouble, overconfidence or carelessness. While a blunder may seem like a stroke of luck for the opposing player, some chess players give their opponent plenty of opportunities to blunder.What...

 as Black would checkmate

Checkmate

Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...

 with 13...Rd1+ 14. Re1 Rxe1#.
White blocks that possibility with his next move, making the threat real against the black knight

Knight (chess)

The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...

 on e4.

13. Nd3 f5

The black knight cannot move because of the pin against the bishop

Bishop (chess)

A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...

 on e7.

14. f3 Bc5+

15. Nxc5 Nxc5

16. Bg5 Rd5

17. Be7 Re8

18. c4

White wins at least the exchange, so Marco resigned.