Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...a6/4. Ba4/4...Nf6/5. O-O/5...Be7/6. Re1

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< Chess Opening Theory‎ | 1. e4‎ | 1...e5‎ | 2. Nf3‎ | 2...Nc6‎ | 3. Bb5‎ | 3...a6‎ | 4. Ba4‎ | 4...Nf6‎ | 5. O-O‎ | 5...Be7
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Closed Ruy Lopez
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black kingg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black kingb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black bishopf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black pawnb6 black kingc6 black knightd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black knightg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 white bishopb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 white knightg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white rookf1 black kingg1 white kingh1 black king1
a b c d e f g h

Ruy Lopez Main Line[edit | edit source]

Now the White's own e-pawn is defended, the threat Bxc6 followed by Nxe5 winning a pawn becomes a serious problem for Black.

  • 6...b5 permanently cuts out any of that nonsense.

There's also

  • 6...d6, the Averbakh Variation. It looks like Black has just forgotten which order to play the moves in, because in most Closed Ruy Lopez variations White will eventually bring the bishop back to c2, and 6...d6 allows White to play Ba4-c2 in a single move thus saving a tempo. On the other hand, trying to take advantage of that fact with 7.c3 gives Black a spare tempo of her own to play ...Bg4, and whenever a bishop appears on g4 in the Closed Ruy Lopez you know White is going to have to play d3 and bring the queen's knight across to the kingside to drive the bishop away before considering d4. On the other other hand, Magnus Carlsen voluntarily plays d3 instead of d4 even without a bishop on g4, so the current verdict seems to be that 6...d6 loses a tempo for no reason.

Theory table[edit | edit source]

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6.Re1

6 7 8 9
Re1
b5
Bb3
d6
c3
O-O
h3
Bb7
...
d6
c3
Bg4
d3
Nd7
Be3
h6
=
...
O-O

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References[edit | edit source]

  • Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.