Ruy Lopez Question for Beginner...

Hello, forum, and thanks for the add.

My background is I am 50 years old, learned to play chess at a very amateur level as a child, so basically I know how to move every piece, most rules, and some basic tactics such as forks and pins, and know to be careful not to jeopardize pieces when moving them. I understand to look ahead a move or two, and am now beginning to explore opening and other chess strategies in a little more depth. I also have been learning piano for 6 years or so, and work the NYT crossword puzzles as part of an overall cognitive maintenance program.

When I use the Ruy Lopez, or any other opening for that matter, what do I do if the opponent does not respond as expected? For instance, if my opening is e4 and the opponent does not go to e5, or if he does and I move next Nf3 but he does not go to Nc6, etc, do I proceed as planned? Or do I react and change? Is this then still considered the Ruy Lopez opening? 

Does this then lead me to learning about defenses against the opening? Are there specific named defenses against it? 

Thanks for help on what seems to be a basic question, but it will help me understand where to go from here.

Good question. The Ruy is a specific opening, if your opponent deviates then you are in a different opening entirely. I would recommend just playing reasonable looking moves where you develop and get your king to safety. Then you can look over your games and see where you can improve. The Ruy is a great opening but there really is a lot of theory to it.

A specific opening refers to a specific set of moves. There are many openings and hundreds of different variations. Your opponent is free to deviate and switch up at any time, as are you. With this in mind you should never just blindly follow opening moves but try to understand the reasoning behind them so you know what to do when your opponent does deviate from them.

As you can see there are many choices of what route a player may take. And with each move the situation on the board changes, and yes you are expected to adapt. Now higher rated players when they play 1. e4 they prepare for all of these responses. However lower rated players don't need to worry that much about openings just opening principles ( take the center, develop pieces, king safety etc. ). Hope I was of some help.

Depends on who you ask. Anything I tell you, someone else will inevitably disagree with it. Generally when beginning study basic principles, practice tactics and endgames. Openings while they generally are the first thing that catches the eye are not that important, especially for a relative beginner. It is much more important to understand pawn structures for instance than to just memorize a couple of moves in the beginning of the game.

That...

If your just getting started again, most of your games will probably end with your opponent leaving pieces hanging.  Tactics and simple endgames will let you pick up quite a few points.   

Eventually you might want to make an opening repertoire though, in that case IM Silman recommends the QGD and the Caro Kann as black.  Both are top shelf openings that you could play forever.  One of the benefits of the QGD is that you can have a reliable opening against C4, D4, Nf3, etc.  The Caro is nice because you won't need to worry about white blitzing out a number of moves in his favorite gambit (a lot of them aren't very good, but it's still one less thing to worry about).  

As white E4 is a great choice.  You'll find that pretty much any reasonable way you want to develop your pieces is already a respected opening.

You as White cannot say that you will play the Ruy Lopez.  An opening is a series of moves by both players.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 is the Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 is a completely different opening called Petroff's Defense, or the Russian Defense.  You have to look and see what Black is doing.  After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6, he is protecting his attacked e-pawn.  With the Petroff, he is counter-attacking your e-pawn.  So you can continue in the center with 3.d4, or else take his pawn, knowing that you will lose it back with 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4.

Why do you play e4?  To control the center.  What move would you like to play?  2.d4!  So if Black allows it, you should play it.  That is why 2.d4 is the best move against forst moves like 1...e6, 1...c6, 1...d6, or 1...g6.  Let's take 1...e6.

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5, what is Black's last move doing?  Threatening e4.  Black's first move also blocks his Bishop.  So hiw do we not lose the pawn?

Protect it - 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2 develops a piece and protects the e-pawn.  It does 2 good things for White.  3.Nc3 is stronger than 3.Nd2.

Advance it - This protects the pawn and gains a space advantage.  Again, two good things for White.

Exchange it - 3.exd5 is the weakest of White's options that does not outright lose the pawn.  It gives you no space advantage.  It develops nothing.  It also opens up Black's blocked Bishop.

So you should do one of the first 2.

This is how you should study openings early on.  Do not try to memorize moves.  Instead, ask yourself:

What am I trying to achieve?  Usually that is the center.

What is threatened by my opponent's last move?  Threats are not just attacked pieces.  Does he have a possible fork if it was his turn again?

What is the BEST way to resolve the problem?  I will give you a hint.  Exchanging is RARELY (thought not never) the answer.  Usually, if you initiate a trade, you lose a tempo as you are taking your piece off the board and your opponent replaces his captured piece with another piece, developing that piece!

Hope this helps.

If you are looking for a structured curriculum, I recommend the Chess Steps Method above all else.  There are 6 levels that range from level 800 to 2100 (USCF ratings).  Each level has a manual and several workbooks, each of which has roughly 600-700 problems. The first 3 levels also have discs entitled "Chess Tutor" that each add 1500-2000 problems that are mostly different than the problems in the workbooks.  Tactics are heavy in the first 5 levels, with some of endgames and a little of openings.  In level 4, they introduce a little of positional (strategic) thinking, but still mostly tactics, then endgames.  In level 5, a little more strategy, but still quite a bit of tactics (I just finished level 5, and struggled ... about 1/3 correct, 1/3 first move and maybe a few more correct, but not the entire sequence, and 1/3 completely wrong ... but I felt I was learning, even from the more difficult problems.  

Other series that are often recommended as a "curriculum" include:

1 .Comprehensive Chess Course by GM Lev Alburt (8 books, or 10 if you include his 2 opening books). 

2. Play Winning Chess series by GM Yasser Seirawan (with some volumes co-authored by IM Jeremy Silman)

The above two series are decent reading for verbal explanations, but not nearly enough practice problems for any meaningful improvement for an adult learner ... you simply can't read your way into chess improvement, no matter how entertaining and readable an author is. 

3. Build Your Chess/Boost Your Chess/Chess Evolution series by GM Artur Yusupov (10 books so far, mostly consisting of practice problems, with brief introductions and a few examples of the subject matter being tested).  Although this series claims to be for players who rated 1300-2100 FIDE, the easiest 4 books in this series seem to more accurately correspond to Chess Steps Method levels 5 and 6 (roughly the 1800-2000 levels) as you will see if you do a detailed search on other users' experiences with this resource.

Generally speaking, in terms of a curriculum, the most common advice seems to be to focus at first on simpler concrete technical tasks-- short sequence tactics, checkmates, and easily-winning, materially-imbalanced, overkill endgames where your opponent has little to no counterplay.  Simultaneously, you should be playing slow games and analyzing each one for improving your worst moves (analyzing with a stronger player or a coach; analyzing with the engine for the crudest mistakes and blunders).  Not sure of a ratio of playing and analyzing compared to studying and doing practice problems, but I think I have seen 50/50 mentioned (I am way behind on the "playing and analyzing" part ... I enjoy the problem-solving).  Over time, you get better, and once you are no longer dropping material so easily, you can increase your efforts towards endings and strategy, while maintaining daily practice with tactics (the simpler and shorter sequence technical tasks).  As you make fewer mistakes and are more systematic about your thinking process, then maybe time to start studying specific openings. 

And no, I have not taken most of this advice, except that when I do have time, I tend to do tactics and a few endgames because that is what is most readily available on my mobile device, and I have managed to slog through the first 5 of the 6 levels of the Chess Steps Method over the past decade, but not followed the authors' advice to have played and analyzed many slow games in between completion of each level (still, I had a relatively easier time with the first 4 levels, before level 5 kicked my arse).  Hope this helps.  Chess androgogy (adult equivalent of pedagogy) is a very interesting and frustrating subject for adult learners who have missed out on the chess experience in their youth when they had more plastic brains with which to learn and absorb the royal game.     

I believe that if a game reaches a structure similar to the Ruy, I call it a Ruy-structure. Because basically all Ruy games turn out to be this thing

Or some other moves that come to that position li

Simililar ideas and structures in these openings (ruy lopez and giuco pianissimo)
ke

The two have nothing in common!

In the Closed Ruy, Black's Bad Bishop (The dark-squared one) is behind the pawn chain.  In the Italian, it's outside the pawn chain.  So one is bad and inactive, the other is bad and active.

In the closed ruy, Black's play is on the Queenside.  In the Italian, it's typically on the Kingside with Nc6-e7-g6, eyeing f4.

Lastly, in the Ruy Lopez, 9.h3 is light years more common than 9.d3.  Most players that play the d3-Ruy play d3 on move 5, to avoid the Open Ruy.  9.h3 intending 10.d4 is far more typical of the Ruy, yet another reason it is nothing like the Italian.

in the open games after 1 e4 e5, if black does not go for the ruy lopez by not playing nc6 on move 2, he basically only has dubious gambits, and then 2..nf6 and 2..d6. i suggest a simple approach, focusing on opening the center, and developing the pieces quickly. 2 nf3 nf6 3 nc3 and white plays d4 against moves that don't stop it. 2..d6 3 d4 and white's development is quite easy to implement. if black does not take on d4, you play nc3, bc4, sometimes a4, h3, 00, re1. if black takes on d4, then you have more room to be aggressive. nxd4, nc3 bf4(g5, e3), qd2, 000, rhe1 maybe , or f3, g4 h4 if black castles short.