But as White that is the only opening I use and feel somewhat comfortable with. Purdy says you need to be really wise to use the Ruy.

My problem is, once you have started and the e4-e5 has been done - and the     Nfc and Nc6 are done. Then in order to castle early and get things going I send my Bishop to b5. Then here comes black's pawn down to a6, and I have to retreat my bishop. And then almost before you can make plans, black sends down his b pawn to b5 making me retreat again. It just feels like retreat retreat retreat.

B5 seems foolish in a way, doesn't it? But if you send your bishop to B4 won't that be more of a closed game? (I hate closed games. It is like sitting on the floor at Christmas time trying to untangle all of last year's lights to go on the tree. And you know what that is like. All tangled up and hard to separate.)

I like open games. You can breathe. And I thought the Ruy Lopez was an open game.

Do you play the Ruy, and how to you cope with the bishop on B5? 

stwils

Don't think of it as retreating -- think of it as creating weaknesses, targets for future attack. Take a look at Fischer-Spassky, 1992 for example, where Fischer attackes the b-pawn to create an open a-file:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1129672

While you're retreating the bishop, it's ok because black is creating targets for you on the queenside - weak squares are popping up everywhere. If something looks and feels like a retreat but it's actually creating weaknesses in the opponent's position - if only we could always retreat like that!

If you want to avoid the Ruy, play 3. Bc5. It can lead to very open games as well.

I don't think there's anyway you can guarantee an open game. Black always has reasonable ways to tighten up a position. But something you might consider is the bird, 1. f4! It's not objectively super strong, but no one knows any lines against it, and things tend to get wild.

YOu dont wanna play the Ruy for open games... You wanna play the Kings Gambitor the Vienna Game w/ early f4

I fully support  RainbowRising's statement.

Yeah, the vienna is probably (one of) the most sound ways to guarantee an open battle.

The Ruy Lopez is my pet line with the white pieces. It is white's strongest opening against a 1. e5 2. Nc6 defense as it maintains the advange for the longest period of time. Try to think of this 'retreat' as more of a redeployment. After playing a common c3, the bishop can be repositioned favorably on c2 which can target black's kingside during a later stage in the game, especially if white choses to exchange center pawns to create a more open based strategy, which would only play to your strengths. This strategy  for white is displayed quite nicely in one specific Kasparov v. Karpov 1990 World Championship Match.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067294

Thank you, PTrain22. I loved the game you linked me to, and I did see how that bishop finally ended up in a good position on C2.

I'm going to watch that game several times. The game and your thoughts give me encouragement to stick with old Ruy and to see my bishop's move as constructive and not as "slinking away."

Thank you for writing me and giving me encouragement. I have put the web site and the game you linked me to in my "favorites."

stwils

Your welcome stwils, from one dedicated Ruy user to another (hopefully) haha.

I really like this opening as well for white, but I ran into this dillemma as well. At first glance, it seems like "wasted" moves for white - and you know what they say (they beat us noobs over the head with it in every book out there) "unless forced, dont move the same piece twice in the opening as it causes you to loose tempo and allows your opponent more development in the critical opening moves". I was leery of this progression as well becuause of this.

Thank you fou your suggestions to this issue. Perhaps it isn't as much of an issue as I or stiwls initially thought...

Yes, SavageLotus, it was the ominous warning "don't move the same piece twice" that made me feel I was doing something wrong when I moved my bishop back and back and back.

Now I think it is all right, and maybe we can embrace and enjoy the Ruy Lopez and not feel we are messing up at the opening!

I am going to keep on playing the Ruy and feel good about it. How about you?

stwils

You're making the mistake of playing the opening that's supposed to be the best, and technically it probably is, but it's most likely that black will play to close the position in the ruy lopez because that's the most reliable thing to do. Then white has to try for a positional edge in a closed game. If you want an open game, then play something else, maybe the scotch or KG, though learning the ruy can be rewarding in my opinion.

But, I suspect that your hate of closed games is because of a lack of understanding about the strategies of them, as opposed to purely a matter of taste. If you want to get better, you can't just dodge them forever, as in just about any opening it is possible for a closed game to emerge, just some more likely than others. Some of the best players in the world highly prefer open tactical games, but they would have never get that high if they had no clue what to do when there was a closed game. I'm not saying you'll necessarily prefer them, but you'll be able to hold your own in them. I think How to reassess your chess or the amateur's mind are excellent, as they contain many closed games showing the plans clearly as well as the thinking process. It may be tough to study at first, but I think it's doable for just about anyone over 1000 if they set their mind to it.

If you dont like closed positions you shouldnt play the main lines of the Ruy. If you want a more open position with the Ruy try 5 d4 !?

But then why not just play the scotch?

Elubas, I have 4 of Silman's books. And I have tried to get into the Amateur's Mind several times. Also HTRYC. (Have the workbook and the strategy one, too) I am now rated around 1350 (sliding up and down all the time. I am not secure there yet.)

Should I just go for Seirawan's Winning Chess Strategies? I see Silman had a hand in that, too.

The middlegame is very hard for me. If I really need Silman, maybe I could read and study a chapter a week in one of them. Which would you recommend? I also have the endgame one, but for right now it is the middlegame I need help with.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

stwils

I think when I read it I had a head start as I had some idea of how to make a plan it was just flawed. You could try winning chess strategies or there's this book called "logical chess: move by move" or something that annotates every move quite heavily. So maybe that's a better starting point to introduce you to strategic features.

Do you understand anything silman talks about in the books you have or are you confused? You could try getting those more basic books then, but in my opinion you could do quite well with a careful study, like just 2 chapters a week or so.

Thanks,Elubas.

I am going to stick with Silman - I looked at the workbook for HTRYC  and at the beginning there is what he calls a "crash course." Not real long, but will give me a good intro. Then I wll plan to read 1 or 2 chapters a week in the Amateur Mind.

But I will start on Winning Chess Strategies as I think I can move along quickly there. Also, I have just received Chess Master vs Chess Amateur by Euwe, and if I can handle the descriptive notation, that ought to help me with strategy.

I love my tactics books. But they are not enough to help me with the middlegame.

Thanks for your reply and encouragement.

stwils

I'm not saying it's necessarily going to be easy, but it's pretty doable. Good luck.

I know it will not  be easy. But I'm going to give it a try.

stwils

The best middlegame books I have are by Euwe and Romanovsky , both have a two book set on the middlegame.