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Written by Chris Mullen
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Friday, 29 June 2007 |
The Ruy Lopez (or the Spanish opening in some parts of Europe) is an opening for white i have come to regard as a powerful and suitable one for all levels of chess.
Gary Kasparov used this opening against Anatoly Karpov in game 20 of the World Championship held in New York/Lyons.
Note: This article does not contain images, it is all notation.
The opening goes as follows:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bb5...
As we can see, white has released two minor pieces and allowed himself the option of castling early, black on the other hand cannot advance his d pawn as he would pin his own knight to his King, allowing the f3xe5 capture by White.
It is also important to note that Black MUST try to repel Whites b4 bishop as it will cramp his queenside leading to a lack of development.
... a6
Blacks most popular reply, you will see that white cannot win a pawn by taking on c6, so black takes to opportunity to repel the bishop to a4. This repulsion will later allow black to play b5, cutting off whites bishop and forcing him to retreat yet again.
Ba4 ...
White wants to keep the pressure on the a4-e8 diagonal.
... Nf6
Black develops his other knight to its most natural square, at the same time attacking whites central e4 pawn.
0-0...
White is able to ignore the attack on continue on his development, because if black takes on e4, White can regain his pawn by force.
...Be7
This move by black leads to a close variation of the Ruy Lopez, black has now allowed himself to castle.
Its important to notice here that black three pieces developed whereas white only has two, it could be argued that white has a superior position as he has castles early, allowing himself to develop the f1 rook to the e1 file, further protecting whites e pawn.
Re1...
White defends his e pawn, stopping black from having another chance of capture in the center.
...b5
A good move by black, preventing white going a pawn up (Ba4xc6, dxc6, Nxe5), also forces the bishop off the a4-e8 diagonal, allowing black to advance his d pawn, releasing his light squared bishop.
Bb3...
The bishops only safe square.
... d6
Reinforcing the e5 pawn, black must make sure his pawn center can resist the pressure of Whites f3 knight and e filed rook.
So far the moves have gone as follows:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bb5 a6
Ba4 Nf6
0-0 Be7
Re1 b5
Bb3 d6
I shall not continue to write this game up, as time has run out, however, i must make it known that i am not an expert of chess and that this is my first time writing a chess article.
If theres anyone who would like to give some feedback it would be most appreciated, all feedback is welcome.
I will continue the rest of this article in the near future, however, if you want to study the game for yourself, refer to the World Championship between Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov in New York/ Lyons. Game 20.
Thank you
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