Fighting Ruy Lopez

A COUPLE RUY LOPEZ SIDE LINES WITH THE BLACK PIECES FOR FUNDAMENTAL INSTRUCTION

hi everyone, it took me a lil time to relearn chess from a positional outlook, so here is something i can share:
RUY LOPEZ
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 and quite naturally a plan for white could be to start out with simply attacking the defender of e5 with 3.Bb5. cool, but black has a ploy that'll get him/her positional equality and he now can encourage an exchange with 3...a6 because after 4.Bxc6 dxc6 and 5.Nxe5, black can play 5...Qd4 and get his/her pawn back after the white N moves:

anyway, no problem, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to miss this if you're always battling opponents who play 4.Ba4. As a side note, keep in mind that 4.Bxc6 isn't bad for white by any means, but don't expect them to play 5.Nxe5 because they'll probably already know about the position resulting from 5...Qd4 (hey, it's their white repertoire, they should know).

alright, so play often continues 4.Ba4 Nf6 (black's e-pawn is still safe under the same idea as already exampled) and at move number five, white can head in various directions.
another quick side note, black doesn't have to play 4...Nf6, but one of the lines i'd like to show you is predicated on this move, so I'll postpone any 4...d6 lines for a later time.

WHITE'S FIFTH MOVE (Ruy Lopez) 

5.Nc3 (it's in the last diagram) and I'm going to suggest 5...Bb4, just attacking the defender of e4. let's see what will happen if white trys for an exchange? play could continue 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nxe5 Bxc3 and now white can recapture with either the d-pawn or the c-pawn. exp. if white plays 8.dxc3, then 8...Qxd1 9.Kxd1 and white loses castling rights and his/her pawn is hanging on e4.

if white trys to avoid a Q exchange by taking with the b-pawn (8.bxc3), well black then has 8...Qe7 and it's either move the N and lose a pawn, or defend the N and lose a pawn. white's best move (saves a tempo by avoiding ...Qc5+) is guarding the N with 9.d4 Nxe4 with castles next for both sides.

CONCLUSION FOR 5.Nc3, it isn't much of a problem for black if he/she has the use of his mental faculties. 5...Bb4 is my suggestion based on a solid and simple approach.

5.d4 is another sideline that white can try in an attempt to throw black out of his repertoire, but it really isn't much of a problem if black is accurate (the reason why you probably won't see it played a lot, but keep this lesson in mind because one day you'll probably run across a squirrely individual who'll try and snare you with an unknown side line). I suggest you answer 5.d4 by simply taking the pawn (5...exd4) and now if 6.Nxd4, then 6...Nxd4.

if not perceptive, white will not consider pushing the e-pawn, play will continue 7.Qxd4 and after 7...b5 8.Bb3 c5, when the queen moves, 9...c4 traps white's light squared bishop.

alright, then best for wht is 7.e5 and black might want to try 7...Ne4 w the c5 square in mind (it's always a plan for black to try and take white's light square bishop in the ruy lopez). play can continue 8.exf6 Qxf6 and you can tell that black is starting to formulate an attack, his c5 bishop and Queen are eyeing f2 and the blk N sits strong in the center.

after 9.0-0 b5, white can try to throw in some useless check with .Re1, but you can simply play your bishop to e7 and preserve ...Nxb3, winning the light square bishop one way or another. play continues 10.Bb3 0-0, then maybe 11.Nc3 Nxb3 (there goes white's strong light square bishop) 12.axb3 (opening the a-file) and 12...Bb7. the bishops point at whites king side and black should have an exciting game (nothing like the spanish torture white was looking forward to giving you). if something like 13.Be3, then 13...Bd6 (dropping your bishop back to control another nice diagnal.

alright, as far as the 5.d4 line is concerned, there's one more line i'd like to share with you. A lot of people might try something like 6.e5 before or after castling, just play 6...Ne4 with a plan to hop to c5 and snare the light squared bishop (remember, it is pretty much always the plan for black against the ruy lopez if he can find a good way to achieve it). play may continue 7.Nxd4 and you can play either 7...Nc5 and just go for the white light squared bishop, or try another interesting line with 7...Bc5.
with 7...Bc5, play can continue 8.Bxc6 (white just throws the bishop pair on his own) dxc6 9.Be3 (protecting the N) Qe7 10.Qd3 Qxe5 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 0-0 13.0-0. it's an interesting position, if white had played on auto pilot and let's say, tried an early .Nf3 (trying to exchange everything and relieve the pressure), then ...Qxc3 .bxc3 Bxe3 .fxe3 and after ...Rxe3, white is down a pawn. the other variations will at least leave white with an isolated e-pawn.

anyway, after 13.0-0 Re8 14.Re1, play your bishop to d7, not to e6 or you'll end up losing the whole game after .Nxe6 (c5 bish hangs and white N has a fork on c7).