Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...f5/4. Nc3/4...fxe4/5. Nxe4/5...d5/6. Nxe5/6...dxe4/7. Nxc6/7...Qg5/8. Qe2/8...Nf6/9. Nxa7/9...Bd7/10. Bxd7/10...Nxd7

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
< Chess Opening Theory‎ | 1. e4‎ | 1...e5‎ | 2. Nf3‎ | 2...Nc6‎ | 3. Bb5‎ | 3...f5‎ | 4. Nc3‎ | 4...fxe4‎ | 5. Nxe4‎ | 5...d5‎ | 6. Nxe5‎ | 6...dxe4‎ | 7. Nxc6‎ | 7...Qg5‎ | 8. Qe2‎ | 8...Nf6‎ | 9. Nxa7‎ | 9...Bd7‎ | 10. Bxd7
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defence
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black kingd8 black kinge8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 white knightb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black knighte7 black kingf7 black kingg7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black queenh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 black pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white queenf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 black kingc1 white bishopd1 black kinge1 white kingf1 black kingg1 black kingh1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
  • 11. f4 is the line adopted by all the top players who have had this variation as White, including Peter Svidler. As in the 9.f4 variation, White is defending g2 horizontally and hitting the Black queen, but now the circumstances are different: without the knight on c6, Black won't be obliged to chop f4 off simply to prevent the knight retreating to e5, and if she prefers to grab the c-pawn instead she can do that with 11...Qc5 (9.f4 Qc5? would have run into 10.d4 when everything is defended).
  • 11. Nb5 allows 11...Qxg2 12.Qf1 Qxf1+ 13.Kxf1 O-O-O or 12.Rf1 O-O-O when Black's greater mobility compensates for the pawn.
  • 11. Qxe4? wins a pawn but loses a piece, because it gives up control of the b5 square that the knight needs to retreat to. 11...Kd8 and now:
    • 12.Qd4 and 12.Qe3 lose to 12...Bc5
    • 12.Qa4 loses to 12...Nb6
    • 12.Qxb7 Rxa7! and the rook is immune because 13.Qxa7 Qg2 picks up the h1-rook (14.Rf1 Bc5 with ...Re8+ to follow makes things even worse).

Fun fact: those three moves in descending order of strength offer a pawn, preserve the material balance, and capture a pawn. Collecting pawns in the opening is overrated!