closed ruy? is it bad?

I thought I heard somewhere that the closed ruy Lopez was actually not that great. Is this true and if so what is better to play for black?

I find the closed Ruy Lopez to be excellent for white.

I play it all the time with both colors.

All openings are bad if you don't understand them.

As far as I know it's one of the most respectable openings out there... I can't imagine who would have said it's bad.

well I specifically was told that the closed ruy is not the best route for black. Does this answer my question? Because what your saying is that I should learn it better? Even if that route contradicts my style.

You cannot have a style until you learn a great deal about the game.

any suggestions for alternatives?

Lets see...

Before the ruy: philidor, petroff,

After the ruy: cozio, schliemann (and deferred), berlin, steinitz (and deferred), open defense

averbakh, marshall

And the closed ruy isn't even really an opening all by itself, it's more of a starting point. Within it you have

chigorin, breyer, zaitsev, smyslov

And probably 2 or 3 dozen others I haven't mentioned depending on what white and black do at each turn.

There are so many because it's been an opening played from world champion down to amateur for the last 100 years... so again... I can't imagine who said it was not good.

I imagine only pros play such openings well.

Players like you and me can win tons of games if only we learn all the basics :)

And partly I mean super-basics... like tempo and space

The #1 rated player in the world still plays it.

http://www.365chess.com/search_result.php?wlname=Carlsen&wname=&open=30&blname=&bname=&eco=&yeari=&yeare=&sply=1&ply=&res=&submit_search=1