So I tried the Ruy Lopez after hearing about this opening, and it didn't seem to work out very well. I am not great at chess, so I'm asking you guys to see if I missed something. Was I supposed to swap my bishop with the knight in order to get control of the middle instead of move my bishop back?
Ruy Lopez bad?
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You could swap it if you want to, but this current position isn't actually all that bad. His pawn structure is slightly worse off, you're aiming at his f7 pawn(that's the pawn in front of his king's bishop), and(at your level) you might even abuse his semi-open rook at the top left corner if he's not careful.
The Ruy-Lopez is one of the most common openings and arguably the most beginner friendly one. Both the exchange variation and the retreat one works at just about any level of play.
In fact, the only reason it's seeing less play in recent years is because it's so common, just about everybody significantly over-analyzed it.
Best,
fellow newbie
The Ruy Lopez is a good weapon in the hands of a master. White can maintain a slight edge almost indefinitely with precise play. However lower rated players should steer clear of it. The theory is enormous. There are many lines that are easier to play with Black since he gets active piece play. A beginner doesn't need an opening which requires extreme precision to maintain a slight positional edge, but one misstep gets you wiped out.
The Scotch Game is great and many Grandmasters have played it and will continue to play it. Carlsen recently played it as white versus Aronian.
Nice game presented by Wilson. The pair of bishops aiming at the black castle supported the nice pawn push and won the game.
As a fellow beginner, I am also an advocate for the italian game over the ruy. It is easier to adjust as white, as there are alot of answers to whatever black throws at you. If he plays 3)...Nf6, the two knights defense, alot of beginners will fall into the fun and aggressive fried liver attack (if youre really feeling chauncey, look into the traxler counter attack for black). If black instead plays 3)...Bc5, white is well prepared to go into the guioco piano or evans gambit. These can lead to good open games with alot of attacking possibilities, and are a good starting point for learning openings
Jul 13, 2022
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#7
WilsonRS wrote:
@uhohspaghettio:
Houdini 1.5 +- (3.31) Qg4 Rf7 22. Nxh6+ Kf8 Wins a clean pawn. Maybe I should of spent time to spot that move. My feeling during the game was to completely shut out all of Black's pieces.
@TheCbossGambit:
I don't like the Guioco Piano because its not very testing. Black has an easy time equalizing and its quite easy to swap off pieces. I would rather play openings I can rely on even at the GM level and the Guioco Piano wouldn't give me anything better than a draw at higher levels.
this aged like milk
#1
"Ruy Lopez bad?" ++ No. It is one of the best if not the best opening.
"it didn't seem to work out very well" ++ Do not blame the opening for that
"I'm asking you guys to see if I missed something" ++ Up to that point no, later yes.
"Was I supposed to swap my bishop with the knight" ++ No. Most grandmasters retreat Ba4 now.