Chess 101...ruy lopez!

This time i will be telling you about the ruy lopez.

The Ruy Lopez, called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game outside English speaking countries, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5

The Ruy Lopez is one of the most popular openings. It has such a vast number of variations that in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings all codes from C60 to C99 are assigned to them.

History

The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. He made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del Ajedrez written in 1561. However, although it is named after him, this particular opening was known earlier; it is included in the Göttingen manuscript, which dates from around 1490. Popular use of the Ruy Lopez opening did not develop, however, until the mid-1800s when Carl Jaenisch, a Russian theoretician, "rediscovered" its potential. The opening is still in active use as the double king's pawn opening most commonly used in master play; it has been adopted by almost all players at some point in their careers and many play it from both the white and black sides.

[edit] Basics

At the most basic level, White's third move attacks the knight which defends the e5 pawn from the attack by the f3 knight. It should be noted that White's apparent threat to win Black's e-pawn with 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 is illusory — Black can respond with 5...Qd4, forking the knight and e4-pawn, or 5...Qg5, forking the knight and g2-pawn, both of which win back the material with a good position. 3.Bb5 is still a good move, however: it develops a piece, prepares castling, and sets up a potential pin against Black's king. However, since White's third move carries no immediate threat, Black can respond in a wide variety of ways. This opening has also been dubbed the " Spanish Torture" because black has to struggle a long time in order to achieve equality.

[edit] Main variations

The theory of the Ruy Lopez is the most extensively developed of all the double king pawn openings. At nearly every move there are many reasonable alternatives, and most have been explored deeply. It is convenient to split the possibilities into two groups based on whether or not Black responds with the Morphy Defence (3...a6). The variations with Black moves other than 3...a6 are older and generally simpler, but the Morphy Defence lines are more commonly played.

[edit] Black defences other than 3...a6

Of the variations in this section, the Berlin and Schliemann Defences are the most popular today, followed by the Classical Defence.[1] The Steinitz Defence was important at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

• 3...Bc5 (Classical or Cordel Defence)
• 3...Nge7 (Cozio Defence)
• 3...Nf6 (Berlin Defence)
• 3...Nd4 (Bird's Defence)
• 3...d6 (Steinitz Defence)
• 3...f5!? (Schliemann Defence)
• 3...g6 (Smyslov Defence or Barnes Defence)

[edit] Classical Defence

Classical Defence 3...Bc5

The Classical Defence or Cordel Defence (ECO C64), 3...Bc5, is possibly the oldest defence to the Ruy Lopez, and is still played occasionally. White's most common reply is 4.c3 when Black may choose to play 4...f5, the Cordel Gambit. This often leads to quite messy positions and a sharp drop in the number of draws in comparison to other reasonable 4th moves for Black. More solid is 4.c3 Nf6, when 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 Bb6 leads to the Benelux Variation. White's principal alternative to 4.c3 is 4.0-0.

Wilhelm Steinitz scored +5=2−4 in this variation. Boris Gulko plays it. The Australian GM, Ian Rogers, has scored +7=4−1 in international competition.

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