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Questions tagged [ruy-lopez]

The Ruy Lopez (or Spanish Game) is the chess opening which begins with the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5.

The Ruy Lopez runs as follows:

 1.  e4    e5
 2. Nf3   Nc6
 3. Bb5   ...
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Why is the Ruy Lopez such a common opening?

The Ruy Lopez opening is characterized by the moves: [fen ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Why is this opening so popular? It does not appear to be particularly special/unique for white or black, so why is it a popular opening?
Chris Bunch
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Why is the Ruy Lopez a sensible opening for white?

As an amateur, I prefer the Scotch game as opposed to Ruy Lopez, since I feel that White loses tempo and Black seems to gain tempo with queenside counterplay in the main line. [title "Ruy Lopez"] [fen "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w…
Adhvaitha
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Why always 4...dxc6 and not 4...bxc6 in the Ruy Lopez Exchange?

[FEN "r1bqkbnr/1ppp1ppp/p1B5/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b - - 0 1"] In the Ruy Lopez Exchange, black always takes back the bishop with 4...dxc6. In Timothy Taylor's 2011 book Slay the Spanish, he advocates 4...bxc6 instead. I want to analyze his…
RemcoGerlich
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Ruy Lopez Main Line - Why not Be7 before Nf6?

In the Ruy Lopez, Morphy Defense Main Line, [FEN ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 after 4.Ba4, the engine suggests Be7 as one of the best moves, tied with Nf6. The opening book Perfect2021 confirms this. Yet, there's no…
Wood
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Ruy Lopez - why does Black not take e4?

In the following Ruy Lopez opening; [FEN ""] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 (5... Nxe4) Now the question, instead of Be7 why does Black not play Nxe4 as e4 is not defended? Thanks
William
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What is the best defense against Marshall Attack?

I have usually found the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez to be very potent and very hard to counter. [fen ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 Are there any proven defensive lines or variations to…
Binoj Antony
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What is the purpose of 3...a6 in the Ruy Lopez?

It doesn't kick the bishop off that diagonal, and playing ...b5 later puts the bishop on another great diagonal and is supposedly bad for black (an explanation of this would be great too). So why is 3...a6 in the main line for black? [FEN ""] 1.e4…
user1839
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Finding a plan in the Archangels Spanish when white plays Be3 to exchange the dark-squared bishop

Black to play and find a plan: [FEN ""] [StartFlipped "1"] [StartPly "25"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. h3 O-O 9. Qe2 Bb7 10. d3 Ne7 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. fxe3 Ng6 13. Nbd2 I often find myself in…
postnubilaphoebus
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Advance of d4 in the Ruy Lopez

I was White in this position, and Black had just played f6. [FEN "r1bqkb1r/ppppn1pp/2n2p2/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 1"] I played c3 to prepare a push of d4 and strike the center. When analyzing this position later, the engine…
Nicolas Appriou
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Did it make sense for Lasker to play the Exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez in 1914?

In 1914, world champion Emanuel Lasker was trailing future world champion J.R. Capablanca in a tournament, meaning that he needed to win, not just draw, against Capablanca. He played the exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez, trading his best…
Tom Au
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Why is the move 4.Nc3 rare in Bird's defence?

After: [FEN ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nc3 it looks like white is leading in development at the moment.
Yakiv Kovalskyi
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Is the Spanish opening better than the Italian opening (for white)?

I am currently playing the Italian opening with the white pieces. [FEN ""] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 I have been training with a higher rating player, who suggests to switch to the Spanish opening(Ruy Lopez). [FEN ""] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 I would…
dreamcrash
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As Black, how do you deal with the double pawns in the Ruy Lopez exchange variation?

How does Black deal with the double pawns c7 and c6 on the Ruy Lopez exchange variation? In other words, after: [FEN ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 I feel that the doubled pawns are cumbersome, and I…
TheFakeGrandmaster
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Why did Karpov choose this knight placement over the normal Ruy Lopez knight manoeuvre?

I was studying some Karpov games and I came across a knight manoeuvre that I hadn't seen before in the Ruy Lopez, shown in the below game (moves 15,16...): [Event "Milan"] [FEN ""] [Site "Milan ITA"] [Date "1975.08.23"] [EventDate…
Matt
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Why is the Cozio defense in the Ruy Lopez not played more often and what's white's best try to defeat it?

The Cozio defense arises after these moves: [FEN ""] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 At first, this looks like just another dubious opening, but I found it surprisingly hard to prove an advantage with white. [FEN ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7…
postnubilaphoebus
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