no important sidelines 
?
Important sidelines in the Ruy Lopez
Sort:
Dec 12, 2021
0
#3
There are many sidelines. Black can play f5, Black can fianchetto the bishop to g7 or develop the bishop to c5.
Dec 13, 2021
0
#4
3...f5
Steinitz - 3...d6
Deferred Steinitz - 3...a6 and 4...d6, if 5.c3, there is the Siesta Gambit (5...f5)
Smyslov - 3...g6
Classical - 3...Bc5
Petroff - 2...Nf6
Latvian - 2...f5
Philidor - 2...d6
Elephant - 2...d5
The Bird 3...Nd4
The Cordel 3...Bc5
3...Nge7
3.Qf6 the Gunderam Variation
there are a lot of sidelines you need to know about, I would consider the Marshall, Open and Berlin to be much more closer to the main-lines
Dec 13, 2021
0
#8
omanmenar wrote:
Stop playing the Ruy Lopez. Play instead Scotch, or Evan's Gambit.
No, i prefer something bit more solid for otb (I played the Scotch long time ago).
Dec 13, 2021
0
#9
ConfusedGhoul wrote:
there are a lot of sidelines you need to know about, I would consider the Marshall, Open and Berlin to be much more closer to the main-lines
Yes indeed, those 3 I mention and I do know a bit about each one of them 
Dec 13, 2021
0
#11
There’s a lot of sidelines in the ruy, especially if you want to learn the mainlines. I like to keep it simple and play the exchange against everything and play the 4v3 pawn majority endgame instead
the Exchange is a good alternative as it avoids many defenses like the Open and the Marshall but you'd have to deal with the Berlin as if you play 4 Bxc6? You have a normal exchange Ruy where Black hasn't lost a tempo with a6, that's no good. Of course the Anti-Berlin with 4 d3 is what I play and if Black plays 4... Bc5 then I go ahead with 5. Bxc6. But in general if you have time and material to learn the theory then I think you should bite the bullet and learn the main theory with d4 in one move, in the long run it will pay off more and you learn to play with the Bishop Pair which is a very valuable asset in all phases of the game.
Hello,
I wanted to try out the Ruy Lopez after having experienced with the Italian (still playing it). I know the mainlines are heavily theorised, but I think they appear rather rarely irl at my level (around 1500 otb).
While I am reviewing master games of mainlines, are there important sidelines to know?
I know a little about the Marshal (against which I aim to train with the anti-Marshall a4-d4 line), the Berlin the Open with 5...Nxe4 and I have encountered the "fishing pole" line (is this something you often encounter?)
Kind regards