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art of planning (Ruy Lopez) part 15/25
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Please note that all the info. in this post are taken from outside sources, they will be mentionned in the last section (special thanks and others sources section)..AND DON'T FORGET TO ALWAYS LOOK FOR COMMENTS UNDER EACH DIAGRAMS!!!
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez is one of the most popular positional openings. In fact, Capablanca recommended to play the Ruy Lopez in order to improve your positional play.
Zoom out section:
In this post we will see 4 differents variations of this opening: they will be the Zaïtsev variation, the Marshall attack, the Jaenisch variation and finally the exchange variation.
Zoom in section:
1- Marshall attack variation:
Long gone are the days when the words "Marshall Attack" would make the chess fans' hearts beat faster. These days it is a weapon of choice for many 2700+ GMs looking to make a quick draw. Using their computers, they have analyzed the Marshall Attack to almost a forced draw. Does it mean that a once a favorite of chess daredevils has quietly died? I don't think so. Maybe we just need to start looking in a different direction. If we manage to find a new path (or a well forgotten one!), then we'll get a lot of room for our imagination and creativity to prosper. Besides, such a switch could be an unpleasant surprise for our opponent who is well prepared to repeat the moves he just saw played in a game from a recent category XX tournament. Suddenly he is on his own and these days it is very uncomfortable for many players who rely too much on the computers and databases. Let's see what happens if after the initial moves of the Marshall Attack:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. exd5, instead of automatic 9...Nxd5 we play 9...e4!?
Of course this ultra-sharp move was played before, but these days is almost forgotten. And as the next game shows, it can be a very unpleasant surprise, even for strong players. GM Almira Skripchenko is one of the World's leading female players and yet, facing an unknown situation, she played the most natural move 10.Ng5 which is probably the worst of White's options. The punishment was swift. I recommend that you analyze the whole Black attack, since it is very typical for this variation.
The next short game features a very popular, yet simple trap. In fact, the trap is so primitive that I wouldn't even mention it here if not the fact that I found over a dozen games in my database where White fell into it. It means that there is a chance your opponent would fall for it too, and therefore you really want to know this trap :)
As I mentioned above, 12. Qe3? is a well-known opening mistake. But even after the strongest move 12. Qg3 Black keeps a strong initiative:
According to the official theory, White's best move is 11.d4, which is sort of counterintuitive since White leaves the dangerous f3 pawn alive. In this case Black has to choose between 11... fxg2 (ruining White King's shelter), 11...Bg4 (defending the f3 pawn) or 11...Bd6 (sacrificing the f3 pawn). In the next game Black preferred the last option.
These days White most frequently plays 4.Nc3, which leads to very sharp play. The old main line (4...fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5) is not very popular today since one wrong move spells quick disaster for Black. See what happened in the following game:
Instead, Black should try to finish his development as quickly as possible and only then start the tactical complications, as in the next game:
Now let's imagine that you are playing White. You opened the game with the Ruy Lopez, hoping to get a long lasting initiative and suddenly your opponent lashes out his by employing the Schliemann Gambit. You hate to defend since you are a sharp attacking player yourself. What should you do? One possible option is a very sharp move 4. d4!? After 4... fxe4 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. dxe5 c6! White cannot move his bishop on b5, because then Black plays Qa5 check followed by Qxe5 and d5 netting an extra pawn, a very strong center and an essentially winning position. Instead White should continue 7. Nc3! cxb5 8. Nxe4 As a compensation for the sacrificed bishop White gets a dominant position in the center. Additionally, Black has troubles finishing his development. The official theory is still unsure if the sacrifice is absolutely sound, but in a practical game it is much easier to play with White. The next game is a good example:
That game was very simple; black just managed to put his pieces in the right places and the result just followed. The key to playing such subtle positions is the understanding of the endgames arising from the opening. One such player with a very good understanding, another team mate from India, Sasikiran, Krishnan systematically takes the game away from his opponent in the next game.
Like we had said earlier, maintaining a solid position without erring in itself can be a huge task. Being patient is more often rewarded in this type of position and you will see more of it in our next game. Our last game, played by Micheal Adams during his early days in the limelight, emphasizes the importance of being patient.
To be avoided section:
Nathalia Pogonina's games section:
I just wanna said a BIG SPECIAL THANKS at Borgqueen, thanks my friend for give me some good ideas for the structure of this post..
AND ALSO, a BIG THANKS at:
thamizhan, Gserper, Arunabi, FM_Eric_Schiller, Georgekadro, mircea_1956, ChessRenewal, Pogape and Oldbill !! Thank you all for make this topic possible!!! IMP!!!!! NOTE...The thamizhan, Gserper, Arunabi, FM_Eric_Schiller content's was a GREAT HELP!!! THANKS..
Others references:
-ChessMaster 10
-Fritz 10
-Chess books - Winning chess briliancies, Seirawan, Y.
- Chess Master vs Chess Amateur, M Euwe
- Website of FQE
- youtube
-wikipedia
That's ALL for the Ruy Lopez!.. I hope you had appreciated ;)
C_H_E_S_STAR