Is the Ruy Lopez opening actually good?

Is the Ruy Lopez actually good?

The Ruy Lopez starts out with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5. 3. Bb5 is a highly aggressive move, and it will give you a disadvantage if your opponent plays certain moves, like the Morphy defense.

If your opponent plays the Morphy defense, 3. ...a6, you will most likely play 4. Ba4. Then he can play 4. ...b5, forcing the bishop to move again. The bishop has moved 3 times during the opening, violating one of the basic opening principles: Don't move a piece more than once during the opening. 

Black has the initiative and a huge developmental advantage. It should be an easy win for him.

I believe that the Ruy Lopez is a bad opening if countered in the right way. What do you think?

I think you should look up your ideas in a DB before posting...

Why is there such a high win percentage?

I am not premium so I can't look that far

Oh I'm no expert, but I'll post the most popular line a little further for you.  Hold on...

Why doesn't black castle? When my opponent plays the Ruy Lopez, I try to castle queenside inside 10 moves.

Of the Ruy Lopez my favorite variation is the Arkhangelsk of the Ruy Lopez. Which is 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bb4 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 fianchettos the Bishop and is very sharp and a good weapon for Ruy Lopez players.

That is also the variation I use, thanks! 

- "Black has a huge development advantage"

Since when is pushing Pawns at the edge of the board called "development"?

You can fianchetto the bishop (Like LeoSaloranta90909 said) and develop your rook, which your opponent can't do. It may not be huge, but it is an advantage.

The advance of those Pawns is a trade-off... it has both plusses and minuses. You seem to see only the plusses. Here is a line that might point out the minuses:

You do know your own games can be explored right? Or maybe you hold it as a secret weapon?

When the White bishop makes three moves (Bb5-a4-b3), two of them are responses to Black pawn moves (...a6, ...b5). After 3 Bb5, White has two pieces developed and Black has one piece developed. After 5 Bb3, White still has two pieces developed and Black still has one piece developed. If getting the pawns to a6 and b5 is better than the bishop's winding up on b3, then perhaps Black has gained something with those two moves. I think the position has simply changed a bit. White isn't winning, but White hasn't thrown away his opening edge, either.

White's bishop is very well posted on b3. It's on the same diagonal as in the Italian Game (3.Bc4) but Black no longer has the couter-punching move d5, hitting the Bc4, which is often an important resource for Black

White spends three tempos moving his bishop to b3, and black spends two tempos kicking it. And then it’s blacks move. 

So basically there’s no loss of time.

also, opening principles are called principles and not laws for a reason, because you can break them if you think it’s the best move in the position

The Ruy Lopez is named after a 16th-century Spanish priest who described it in 1561. Some 459 years later it is still studied and played, and as Bobby Fischer said, "e4, best by test." So, it can't be all that bad.   (However, I never play it.)

hey guys I would really appreciate it if you checked out my new forum "banned from chatting" thanks even if you don't!  x

@amoghakella the opening principles are guidelines for beginners, who need to focus their gameplay and improvement on other more crucial states of the game.

When I coach little kids, we tell them how to develop their pieces by the principles, so we can give them feedback on basic tactics occuring in the middle game, or endgame play.

Advancing pawns is usually a statement.

Black tells: I will prove that the space advantage on the queenside will be usefull

White answers: I will show you, thoose pawns are definitly weaknesses.

And a battle of ideas has begun.

Thats chess  there alot of openings where you need to phrase this dialog, because of imbalances out of the opening

In the mean time, Black just created a hook for White (a4) and so it's not like what happened is equal.  White has not created any weaknesses in his own position.  The advanced Black Pawns can easily become a huge weakness!

I agree. Maybe I should try the Ruy Lopez some time!

hi