My main problem in adopting the Breyer has been...

No one at my level seems to want to play main lines. Just reaching the quintessential Spanish position after 9.h3 has been rare for me (as either color).

Thanks pfren - I know that Ntirlis is an excellent opening analysist, so looks like a good choice

Yes-you also have to be prepared to face the many sidelines and exchange variations.

Yes, so many sidelines...  luckily in the Spanish it's often the case that you can make several errors before you're losing. In the Sicilian black is not so fortunate I think :)

Sicilians were owned by us, remember it.

All I know is that Ntirlis works hard to assemble a complete repertoire that he considers to be optimal. I suspect however that you would be a better judge of this - being a superior player to myself and also Greek.

Uhm, that's a good thing!

If it isn't hard work, you ain't learning sh*t!

Improvement requires putting in 110% effort!

Also, you have to get your mind off of this "Attacking Style".  If you aren't a Universal Player, you are nothing!  You have to be able to handle both wild positions and sterile, symmetrical positions.

The Berlin is notorious for being symmetrical and boring, but I've had completely whacked out wild games in the Berlin.

The Marshall Gambit is notorious for being wild, but I've seen sterile equality in the Marshall Gambit as well.

Same thing goes for any other opening.  Sterile Najdorfs and Wild Slavs are plentiful!

Of the 3, the Breyer is the safest, the Berlin is going to require the most endgame knowledge, and the Marshall is going to require learning the most theory as you are going to get Anti-Marshalls almost 90% of the time, which requires you to know 8.a4, 8.a3, 8.h3, and one other move I can't seem to recall, along with the gobs of theory from 8.c3 d5.

At your level, 2100, which is also where I am, you should be studying the games of GMs Spassky and later.  Pre-Spassky is for lower players.  They all had a specific "Style" and hence why they weren't as good as a World Champion from the past 50 years!  You will see the difference.  While all of Capablanca's games were about simplicity and simplifying the position, and while players like Alekhine and Tal favored wild, tactical positions, you won't see any one specific pattern in the games of Spassky, Kasparov, Carlsen, etc.  One game will look like Tal played it while the name game will look like Yusupov played it!

Are you open to the Modern Steinitz?  3...a6 4.Ba4 d6.  After 5.c3 the Siesta 5...f5 is quite sharp and surprisingly sound.  And after 5.Nf3 you can play 5...b5 and steer back to closed systems with ...Nf6 ...Be7 etcetera, though then the Marshall is ruled out.  And as for the closed system, its fallen out of favor, but what about the Keres line with 11...Nfd7 (instead of the typical Tchigorin 11...Qc7)

Isn't there a line with d4 in the siesta that leads to a forced draw if white wants?

IM prfen, for an 1800 OTB player is there anything wrong with the zaitsev

I had the chance to play some practice games against the Siesta with 7...Bd3 (I was white). At least the way my opponent kept playing it, it didn't seem very good. Not busted or anything, but I always had a comfortable advantage.

I don't know if 7...Bd3 is the way it's still played. I'm not at my chess computer at the moment so no database to check.

WOW REALLY?

You give yourself only 3 options?

You reduce all your options to only 3?

Breyer, Marshall or Berlin Wall?

You have plenty of lines you can play against the Ruy Lopez.

Than you listen to everyone & pick the Breyer?

Forget the Breyer!!!!!

No one cares about the Breyer.

Forget the Marshall!!!!!

You can't even play the Marshall if white doesn't allow it.

Now finally we get to real chess lines!

The Berlin Defense!!!!!

A line for champions!

Don't get confused!

The Berlin Wall Endgame is not forced.

White can prevent it if they chose too.

The line you will need to learn is the Berlin Defense and the lines which arrise from the Berlin Defense.

Furthermore, I would like to give some other lines which could be interesting to play.

From my limited knowledge, I haven't heard of these lines being refuted.

Thus, I will mention them.

• Spanish Game, Fianchetto Defense

Nakamura was playing this line a while back. I don't know why. LOL maybe because he is Nakamura & can do what ever he wants too.

Who knows lol.

Yeah this line seems popular. Maybe it is making a come back.

• Spanish Game, Arch Angel Defense(Archangelsk Variation)

This line has been played by some top level players including Vishy!

You have a few other lines as well.

• Spanish Game, Zaitsev System
• Spanish Game, Smyslov-Breyer-Zaitsev Hybrid
• Spanish Game, Smyslov Defense

Lastly, I would like to mention a nice blitz line.

Spanish Game, Cozio Defense

Yeah surely these lines can be playable for anyone under Grand Master level.

If Super Grand Masters can play these lines surely we can give them a shot as well!

@XplayerJX, I think OP already knows his options . After all he is 2100 elo.

@chessmaster, here is a book review of the Ntrilis book,

https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/book-review-playing-1e4-e5

I suggest the Breyer.  And play the sicilian if you need something sharp.

The Marshall needs preparation and will often be avoided.  The Berlin, you will often be in an ending with a somewhat awkward position with potential.  Does not sound like your strength.

But playing the Ruy Lopez is not at all the way to avoid having to learn loads of theory.  And there are many other lines after e5 you will need to know something about.

Yes, 7...Bd3 is the way it's played.  Below is a game between myself and another 2000+ player, from the FICGS server where engines are allowed.  My comments to my opponent after it was finished was that "to retain some advantage you had to play 15.Ne4 or 16.h3".  You can see a dump of my engine analyses regarding these options at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t5kifa0xjwkyoxy/analysis.15_Ne4_d5.pv2.txt?dl=0

and

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pi1u6bvq0iz1rl2/analysis.14__Rae8_15_Qxa4_d5_16_h3_Bd6.pv2.txt?dl=0

And more pertinent to the final moves:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vc4azmybom5307b/analysis.20__Ng4_21_h3_Rxf2_22_Bxf2_Bh2%2B.pv2.txt?dl=0

There are maybe 20 reliable variations on ruy lopez...

And probably more...

In response to the text I highlighted in green:

Well I believe the OP shouldn't limit himself to 3 options.

As others have said there are over 20+ different playable lines against the Ruy Lopez. The OP has reduced himself to 3.

Breyer, Marshall or Berlin.

The OP is 2100+ so he is strong enough to know this information.

Which is why I am surpised he said it.

However, I wanted to mention it because maybe the OP has been a little hasty in disregarding some of these other lines!

In response to the text I highlighted in red:

I don't think the OP should limit himself.

However, since he has already done that than really he has no choice.

Out of the 3 options he gave Breyer, Marshall or Berlin.

The Berlin will be the best every time.

Which is why if you really look at the 3 options.

The Berlin towers over the other options in every situation.

The Berlin has been used in World Championship matches the past 10-20 years. Since the Kasparov and Kramnik games in the early 2000's.

Which is why the OP should compare the Berlin to the other options the way he is doing.

Well, it is not at all obvious.

The path of black's QB is from c8 to d7 to g4 to d7 does not look great.

So the move 13 ... B-g4 could be the culprit.  It forces you to close the center, sac a pawn or take on f3 with a pawn.  But after white playes d5 and h3 the bishop can't go to h5 maintaining the pin and black must retreat or concede the 2 bishops.  It could be the lost time, and the QB on d7 still isn't great, leaves black with a position that looks OK but isn't.

The other thing that occurs to me is maybe black's set up with the bishops on e7 and d7 is too passive.

I don't know for certain, but black lost and must have gone wrong somewhere.