The Noah's Ark Trap is a 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...

 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...

.
The name is actually used to describe a family of traps in the Ruy Lopez in which a white 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...

 is trapped on the b3-square by black pawns

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...

.

The origin of the name is uncertain.
The shape of the black pawns on a6, b5, and c4 may resemble an ark, or the name may suggest that the trap is "old as Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...

".

Even chess masters have occasionally fallen victim to this trap.
An example is Endre Steiner

Endre Steiner

Endre Steiner was a Hungarian chess player.Endre Steiner played for Hungary in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads.* In 1927, he played at first reserve board at 1st Chess Olympiad in London ....

–José Capablanca at the Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

 tournament in 1929.

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

4. Ba4 d6

5. d4(?)

Better moves for White are 5.c3, 5.Bxc6+, and 5.0-0.

5. ... b5

6. Bb3 Nxd4

7. Nxd4 exd4

8. Qxd4??

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...

 recommended this move in the tournament book for New York 1924

New York 1924 chess tournament

New York 1924 was an elite chess tournament held in the Alamac Hotel in New York City from March 6 to April 18, 1924. It was organized by the Manhattan Chess Club. The competitors included world champion José Raúl Capablanca and his predecessor Emanuel Lasker. Nine other top players from Europe...

 as a means for White to draw

Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...

, but it is a mistake that loses material.
White should instead play 8.Bd5 or try a gambit

Gambit

A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Some well-known examples are the King's Gambit , Queen's Gambit , and Evans Gambit...

 with 8.c3.

8. ... c5

9. Qd5 Be6

10. Qc6+ Bd7

11. Qd5 c4

(See diagram.) The white king bishop is trapped. White resigned after move 32.