Is the Ruy Lopez A lie?

so i read an article about chess opening basics by a International master on this website. and he provided this game as an example of a chess opening, and he chose to demostrate the ruy lopez with explanations of each move.

Someone please explain to me 

hopefully someone reads this

im just commenting to get this post onto hot topics, so please dont be mad at me. I'm just dying for an answer.

[please don't post a bunch of random/single letter posts to try and get your post to hot topics -- MOD]

I kinda see where you're coming from, Bb5 doesn't pin the Knight, but after a6 Bxc6, dxc6 Nxe5 white won a pawn. As for 0-0, after Nxe4, Re1, black moves the Knight, white wins the pawn back. 

i just did a bunch on different possible lines on an analysis board, and it appears to me that if black makes the right moves, black still ends up on top, and wins the e4 pawn without getting a piece or pawn disadvantage, though maybe a positional disadvantage. i used the komodo 8 engine to analyze this position in the game and black still comes out on top

yeah i guess white wins the pawn back, except then immediately after taking the e5 pawn black plays Nxe5, taking whites rook and thus giving black an advantage.

he takes tje pawn back with his f3 knight, not the rook

@alvin Bxc6, dxc6 Nxe5 Qd4!

what does it mean for something to be an indirect attack anyways? like I can understand how it is an indirect attack, but i dont see how the bishop's indirect attack does anything to affect the rest of the play going on around the e4 pawn

(p. 53)

      Game 9

      Znosko-Borovsky - Mackenzie

      Weston-super-Mare 1924

      Ruy Lopez

      1 e4

   This first move occupies the centre

with a pawn and frees four squares

for the queen and five for the f1-

bishop. One of the reasons many

players prefer 1 e4 to any other

opening move is that it gets the

kingside pieces rolling quickly, en-

abling early castling on that side.

      1 ... e5

   In the old days this was almost

compulsory. It indicated that you

were willing to stand toe-to-toe and

slug it out. Only a coward would

avoid 1...e5 and a possible gambit by

White.

   Objectively considered, the text-

move is perhaps Black's strongest

response. It challenges possession of

the centre and prevents White from 

monopolizing it by continuing 2 d4.

      2 Nf3

   What happens if White persists

and plays 2 d4? The reply 2...exd4

leads to 3 Qxd4 Nc6 4 Qe3 Nf6,

when Black has two pieces in play to

one of White's. This amounts to tak-

ing the initiative away from White

early in the game.

   The text-move is far more effec-

tive than random development of the

knight, for instance at h3, where it is

out of touch with affairs in the cen-

tre, or at e2, where it blocks all traf-

fic.

      2 ... Nc6

   The logical way to meet the attack

on the pawn; a minor piece develops

toward the centre and defends the

pawn.

   The general plan of mobilization

is to establish a pawn in the centre,

develop the minor pieces (the knights

before bishops, whenever feasible),

then castle to get the rooks to the

centre files, and finally bring the

queen out--but not too far from

home. Premature development of

the queen is dangerous, as it is sub-

ject to annoying attacks by pawns

and minor pieces.

      3 Bb5 (D)

(p. 54)

r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 3 2

   The most natural move on the 

board: White strikes at the defender

of the pawn he attacks. It is true that

he cannot win the pawn at once, as

after 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 Nxe5 Qd4

Black regains the pawn, but the pres-

sure on Black is constant, and the

threat is always in the air.

   The Ruy Lopez is probably the

strongest of all kingside openings.

White has more to say in the centre,

since he will be able to play d4 with-

out much trouble, while Black will

find it difficult to achieve ...d5.

   White's pieces have more room to

move around in, while Black's game

is considerably cramped in many

variations.

Chernev. Irving. 1998. Logical Chess: Move by Move. London: Batsford.

3.Bb5
It's not only good in that it develops a piece and influences the center (indirectly in this case). But it also gets out of the way so to speak of other pieces. On e2 or d3 it will in the future physically block a center file for use by a rook or queen. c4 is a good alternative, but puts less pressure on black, so I would argue makes less use of the first move advantage.

3...a6
First of all, it is a legitimate choice to not play a6. After a6, it is a legitimate choice to capture the knight. In chess there's always a trade off... white gives up the bishop pair (which is somewhat meaningful) and in return damages the pawn structure (which is also somewhat meaningful). The implications are too much to get into, but suffice to say neither option is clearly better. Modern GMs tend to prefer moves that keep more pieces on the board or evolve into more complex positions so as to have more chances to outplay their opponent.

Secondly, you shouldn't regard pawn moves as a development. a6 would waste a move in the opening, if it didn't force white to move the bishop again. So both the move a6, and the forced response (whatever white chooses) are both counted as a waste of time in the opening (which aims to develop as quickly as possible) and so they cancel each other out. So to reiterate, a6 is not a loss of time, and whether white captures or retreats, this is also not a loss of time.

5.0-0
First of all, while you're correct that e4 is not defended directly, it's defended in the sense that if captured, white will have a forced series of moves to win one of black's pawns (very likely black's e5 pawn). So while it's possible to capture e4, it's not possible to win a pawn by capturing e4.

Secondly, 0-0 is considered best in the sense that it's a development move that will need to be played anyway. 5.d3 defends the pawn, but by playing this white loses the option to play d4 in a single move. In other words 0-0 is useful in all future positions, but d3 is not. Similarly the defense 5.Nc3 blocks white's c pawn.

5...Be7
It's true that black could have taken the e4 pawn. The point of Be7 is that if now white plays a nonsense move like h3, black's capture of the e4 pawn will win material. That is to say, white will not be able to win a pawn in return to make it even again.

In chess in almost every position there is almost always at least 2 ways to defend against a threat.  There is a direct defense and there is an indirect defense.  The difference between the 2 are the following:

With indirect defense you keep the initiative (the attack)

With indirect defense you threaten to do something worse to your opponent than he is  threatening to do to you (ex. opponent is threatening to  take your Q.  So you threaten to checkmate him on the move.  Not very likely  he is going to take your Q.)

 With direct defense you lose the initiative (the attack)

Okay, thank you alvin, fields, sqod, and the guy whos username is binary code, for your all your help and for not getting extremely rude and hostile towards me for posting too much sometimes.

I think the original poster is being an azzhole on purpose and purposefully making fun of someone. I honestly have no idea why, though.

Insulting someone on purpose... what a guy...

Of course the Ruy López is a lie, a conspiration even older than Darwinism, why they have lasted so long is beyond me though.

I've been experimenting with the ruy lopez, but recently, when I go 1.e4, they always respond with the sicilian defense, its rare usually that I get the kings pawn game, and even less often that they allow me to reach the ruy lopez, usually i end up encountering the philidor defense #2

I feel like there aren't enough variations of many openings, for example I feel like there needs to be a lot more studying of the english opening. but there is hardly any