Popov Attack

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a5

This is the starting position of the Popov Variation of the Ruy Lopez. We had another thread on this, but for some reason it was deleted. I am seeking games and analysis of this opening, if anyone has any to share.

The basics are that if White captures with 4. Bxc6, it's like a normal Exchange Spanish except with the Black pawn on a5, not a6.

If White plays 4. 0-0 or 4. d3, Black has the option of chasing the Bishop away with 4...Na7.

The Bishop is most likely to retreat to c5 (eyeing f7) or e2 (less aggressive, but perhaps the better move).

So what you are saying is Black voluntarily creates a hole at b5 for white to exploit and in exchange for this Black expects White, out of the goodness of his heart, to give up the Bishop pair?

Obvious is 4. O-O but so is 4. c3.   (4. d3 makes little sense.) What do you do then?

Again after 5 Be2 white is way ahead in development and black needs to defend his e pawn and get his knight back into the game. White has chances to attack, probe the queenside pawns, and can still play for d4 while black really hasn't gained anything. I doubt the a5, b5 structure is really a redeeming feature as it's really more of a target anyways.

But maybe 5 Bc4 is better, with more aggressive possibilities and really white wants black to play ...b5 when I don't think he would mind retreating it to e2.

I hadn't even considered 4. c3, but it does look pleasant for White definitely.

4. 0-0 Na7 is the only way I've seen it played, based on 5 games. It avoids the lines shown. Black will want to play an eventual ...b5, but probably not right away because of....

5. Bc5 b5 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe5+

But if Black develops "normally" will he be able to play ...b5 at some point and pawnstorm on the Q-side and get his knight back into the game? Or is it too slow?

In my opinion (although you probably think I'm biased) yes it is too slow. We haven't even got to the point where we know black wants to pawn storm. I mean in the closed lines black gets to play ...b5, but this is just the move white wanted to provoke! Anyways it has its ups and downs, but playing those moves so early wastes time, is commital, and puts the knight out of play meanwhile white is developing and centralizing. It gives you a clue that white probably has something dynamic he can do if black tries this plan without developing much.

Should Black continue developing his King-side pieces and castle before playing 6...b5? I know the pawnstorm is the whole point of the opening but there's no rush, and perhaps the b5 square could even be an outpost (temporarily?) for the knight.

6...exd4, then White won't necessarily want to caputre on d4 with the Queen, and then it avoids the position above.

Thoughts?

Yes, I don't think black shouldn't play ...b5 right away, I was just showing what would happen.

If 5. Be2 then maybe 5...b5 is OK.

But with 5. Bc5, Black has a lot to worry about...

* Protect f7

* Protect the e5 pawn

* Get the knight on a7 back into play

What about combining the 3...a5 with another offbeat Spanish line? Make it into a hybrid system of some sort. I have nothing specific to suggest, but the Schliemann Attack comes to mind.

Lets make it simple, 3.... a5 is bad.  Don't try and make it work, find a better line.  Even 3... Nge7 is better if you want something different, not mainstream, solid and somewhat sound.

I don't insist on playing it so strongly. I played it once ever. And I have a 2-game match with it ongoing here.

It's just that I came across it in Chess Life from a strong correspondence player, rated 2500+, and he won with it against another strong player. At chessgames.com, the database shows a winning record of +3-1=1.

I like unorthodox stuff, especially when it's a new move in a standard opening like the Ruy Lopez. I'm not saying I'll try anything, but if something looks reasonable, I like to give it a try. The more I can pick up here about the best lines, the better. If it has no redeeming qualities, I'll certainly drop the idea.

The Cozio (3...Nge7) is the least popular third move. Others include the following...

The Shredder database shows no games, the New In Chess database has 13, 8 White wins, 2 Black wins and 3 draws.

I wouldn't call 3.... d6, 3.... Nf6, 3....Bc5 unorthodox but rather common.  3.... f5 and 3... g6 are more unusual, but not rare.  By the Shredder base, 3.... Nge7 is more popular than 3...d6 but I think that is because if you want to play d6 it is better to do the sequence 3....a6 4. Ba4 d6

NICbase has 885 Corizo games with a decent score.  I don't like the Corizo, it feels cramped to meand seems to give up Black's main weapons in the Ruy. 

Early when I started playing chess, my friend and I played Ruy Lopez all the time. It felt played out and only when I started learning new openings, my interest in chess was rekindled. Seeing a strong player use 3...a5 was amazing to me, reviving an opening I thought was long dead.

New in Chess has an article on it, with 9 pages of games.

My OTB files have 31 games with this line--White's most common response is 4.0-0 (16 games) with 4. c3 next 96 games) A few masters were on the Black side but none real well known. My CC files have 46 games (including those by Popov). White scores very well in both files.

If looking for an off-beat Ruy line  3....Nge7 was played quite a bit by some strong masters. Also 3...g6 is another line.

Combining ...a5 with the Schliemann must lead to a bad game since you will have holes all over and ...a5 did nothing toward any development so you will still be vulnerable.

Well, there is always 1 e4 b5!! if you want to avoid main lines....

Well, I try a lot of strange stuff, so there's no shortage of options. I appreciate the suggestions for alternatives to 3...a6 in the Spanish. I am familiar with most of them. I just wanted to examine this line sepcifically and see what the best lines were and determine if Black can get a good game out of it.

Unrelated to the Popov variation, here are other unorthodox openings I play from time to time...

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ne4 (The main line leads to a normal Alekhine position except the black knight is on a6 instead of b6)

1. b4 c6 (I've played both sides of this.)

1. c3 e5 2. c4 (Sicilian with colours reversed. Obviously Black can avoid 1...e5 and White has to come up with something else)

1. Nf3 d5 2. e4 (Tennision Gambit -- more positional than attacking)

1. f4 d5 2. e4 (Williams Gambit -- a guy organized a theme tournament featuring masters to promote this opening and expand its theory)

to me sounds bad for black

Most main lines of the Spanish, White keeps an advantage anyway. By playing 3...a5 White can develop even faster yet because he doesn't have to spend a tempo retreating his bishop. But I really think if Black focuses on normal King-side development and castles his king ASAP, he can start rolling those pawns up the Q-side and get his knight back into play actively.

I'm playing a 2-game match with it right now, and both games are interesting.

Perhaps a telltale sign that this variation sucks is that it's named after Popov, but I can't find any games where he actually plays it. Maybe it was a one-time thing? Sort of like Tony Miles beating Karpov with 1...a6 and then never playing it again.

Popov was a CC player who played this line a few times in the early 90's

It was probably Popov's game in Chess Life that I saw a long time ago.

Do you realize black plays ...b5 in the normal ruy anyways? Then black can choose if he wants to play ...a5 or not and it's actually black who normally has the lead in development, though it's usually not enough to compensate for white's chances in the center. It's a little annoying how I post analysis where white is much better against the plan, and you try to make it work with vague ideas like delaying ...b5 for one move or whatever. I think it's pretty insignificant of a difference compared to the whole picture about the line.

As a 1 Na3 player, you would probably like the lines coming out of 3...Nge7, and that move is fine and sound.