Ruy Lopez: Noah's Ark Trap (8. Qxd4 c5)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 d6 6. d4 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4 c5
The Ruy Lopez: Noah's Ark Trap is a chess opening classified as ECO C71, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 d6 6. d4 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4 c5. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8 times by this move order. White won 13%, 24% were drawn and Black won 63%. The most popular continuation is 9. Qd5 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: −2.87 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 9. Qc3 c4 10. Bxc4 bxc4 11. Qxc4 Nf6)
- ECO
- C71
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/5ppp/p2p4/1pp5/3QP3/1B6/PPP2PPP/RNB1K2R w KQkq - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 d6 6. d4 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Qd5 | 8 (100%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- georgepanagoulo (2064) – Professori_ree (2140) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- ertugrulboylu55 (1874) – GrSpirit (1819) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 3s
- Schmottchen (1795) – FrightenAll (1750) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Caro Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- Ruy Lopez C60
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense, Alapin Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Brentano Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Bulgarian Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Tartakower Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense, Kevitz Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Lucena Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Nürnberg Variation C60
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.