Ruy Lopez Main Ideas

[Kristin Dampeer]

Sowhat about the Ruy Lopez. This is my favorite opening to play as white but to be honest I sometimes find myself at a loss for an overall objective. I get caught up in little tactical battles with no real vision for what I am trying to achieve in the long run.

It might be easier if you wrote specific moves you wonder about, how far into the game you mean, and in which variation. Personally, I'd be interested in a nice overview of the main variations of the Ruy Lopez, each of which probably has its own goal.

I usually try to keep my King centralized, set up a a2-c4 pawn chain to hold up Black's Qside pawn majority, and exchange pieces to an endgame. I especially aim for Black's LSB which could be a major threat against my Qside in an endgame.

I checked out a library book on the Ruy Lopez in the past week. It had one chapter for each of the main variations, with a general explanation of the ideas for each variation. The ideas weren't very concrete, maybe because of the primarily tactical nature of the opening, but at least it was something. Here is the intro for each chapter...

The Ruy Lopez starts at move 3 and has a large and varied number of pawn structures, variations, and subtle ideas. The reason to play it is that (generally and with exceptions) it is an interesting and complex game with chances for white to keep black under pressure for a long time and for black to slowly equalize and counter. There is no reason you can't play it at any level so if you want to try it, look at some annotated RL games then go for it. - Bill

That is the main reason for the Ruy Lopez. Although, another reason is it has a lot of theory involved so it can allow a well-prepared player an advantage in a sound opening but also one that they are prepared for while their opponent is not as prepared for. Of course, it can be hard to do so at the top level if they play the Berlin Defense

Most high level games (and openings) aren't about "attacking" so it's a hard question to answer. Between developing pieces and winning material there are usually dozens of moves. Players fight for things like piece activity, pawn structure, and king safety. You can't attack until you have active pieces and a weak target.

It's also hard to answer because the Ruy is a broad opening with different structures and ideas, and even within the same structure sometimes players are playing on the kingside, queenside or center... it just depends.

1)

As in most (all?) 1.e4 e5 openings, white typically wants to play d4 at some point and black wants to play d5. Beware that pawn breaks favor the side with better development. White can usually play an early d4 if they want, but black will typically need to focus on catching up in development first so will play d6 and look for an opportunity to play d5 later if possible.

2)

As in most 1.e4 e5 openings, a knight on f5 for white (or knight on f4 for black) can be a strong attacking piece. Sacrifice a knight or bishop to capture a pawn in front of the opponent's king, then swarm in with your other pieces to checkmate. When going for mate in a 1.e4 e5 opening, instead of attacking the e pawn from the center, you may want to do it with your f pawn. So f4 for white and f5 for black indtead of d4 and d5.

And now that I look at it, those 3 tips mention each area (kingside, center, and queenside). So yeah, it just depends. Typically you can't be ahead in every area... and I don't mean in the Ruy I just mean in chess. Choose an area (kingside, center, or queenside) where you have more active pieces or where your far advanced pawns are cramping your opponent and play in that area. Play a pawn break (or sacrifice a piece) to open lines... that's chess in a nutshell I suppose.

"What are some of the main attacking ideas for black and white in the Ruy Lopez?"

++ It is usually white who attacks the black king and black defends it. The basis of the attack will be Bb5-a4-b3 and Nb1-d2-f1-g3-f5 after the center is secured with c3 and d4.

"Why play it in the first place?" ++ 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 is arguably the strongest opening for white. AlphaZero reinvented that. It is most played at top level like World Championships and Candidate Tournaments.

"What is there to win?" ++ 3 Bb5 undoes the control of Nc6 over 2 central squares d4 and e5, and thus facilitates a later seizing of the center with d4 after a preparatory c3. The point is not to take e5, as that is impossible. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 Nxe5? Qd4.

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6, the move 4.Bxc6 is fine, but you are playing the positional game where your 4-on-3 after your d-pawn is traded for his e-pawn is better than his 4-on-3 due to pawn structure. White wants an endgame and Black hopes to get at the White King in the middlegame.

This question requires more than a forum post would do justice. I would suggest checking out one of the 3 GM Ruy Lopez courses (with video) on Chessable, Damian Lemos' Ruy Lopez Deep Dive, or Fabiano's 3-part ChessBase video series as they will give you a much more thorough answer.

The main idea for White is to force Black to defend the e5 pawn in a committal manner and then break appropriately depending on which way Black plays (often a kingside attack, but there are also plans in the center and queenside in some lines). White's initial threat is to take on c6 and then on e5(winning a pawn) at the correct moment (mainly, when his e4 pawn is well-defended and king safe).

I have studied the London opening system on lichess.org. What really clicked with me are the systems two main ideas: (1) develop a defensive structure which (2) allows you to crash black's kingside castle by pushing pawns with rooks behind them (and very often crush your opponent).

What you have is plan A, which is to crash black's king side, and if black doesn't castle you return to plan B, which is to improvise from a very strong defensive posture. The main point is that you have plan A with a very specific way to win in mind.

I am /not/ asking about opening principles. I am asking about the specific ideas of the Ruy Lopez. I understand how it gets your pieces out fast, is aggressive, and allows for a fast castle. But what approach or strategy does the Ruy Lopez aim for?

In my own games, the best idea I have is to position my rook in the center file (because I can castle quickly) and try to open up the center and use a discovered attack on the king or queen by exposing my rook. But is this 'classical'?

You are not only comparing two very different opening systems (London System and Ruy Lopez), but you are comparing two different ideas of what an opening system is. The London system was once described by GM Julian Hodgson as the "businessman's opening", ideal for those with little time for study, because once you have played d4 and Bf4 there is not much choice for the other pieces. It can be said without gross exaggeration that the London system can be learned in five minutes.

The Ruy Lopez is much more vague and much more ambitious. The vagueness is why no short answer is possible. The goal is to increase Whites mobility and control of space and to retain the option of where to strike. There are some standard manoeuvers such as c3 and d4,0-0 and Re1,Nb1-d2-f1-e/g3, a4, and others, but Black can often play a big role in deciding the sort of game it will be. He can go for complicated counterattack with the Schliemann, the Open, or the Marshall. He can play more safely, with Steinitz/Steinitz Deferred or more classical approaches like the Chigorin, Keres, Breyer.. In fact one reason NOT to play the Lopez is all of the work required to prepare for everything that might happen. Mastering the Lopez is a lifetimes work.

What you said about how fast White castles and can open center (and give a check) are the tactical resources that white uses to achieve their strategic goals. Of course in modern day every minimally educated player knows the tenets of opening stage and will not allow a mate in 15 by letting White open up the center and bring all minor pieces and take on f7 and mate!

So, what is the longterm strategy? Well, I am not an expert in 1.e4 opening generally, but, can tell from many games I have seen in Ruy Lopez that white is aiming to 1) Restrict Blacks's choices in the opening. Notice how Black can't really dictate anything in the opening, Black's pieces have basically one square to choose from. White later plays h3 to take g4 away from the bishop on c8.

2) Obtain a mobile center (possibility of being able to push pawns (d4) to open the center) -- think pawns on c3 and d3 and e4 -- this is in contrast with 1.d4 openings where later the center locks with white's pawn ending in d5 and the game "slows down".

3) While preventing Black from freeing their position, white exports another knight to the king side, maneuvers the bishop from b5 to b3, or c2, and gets ready to assault an attack on the king side by occupying f5/h5 with a knight, pushing d4 to open the center and activating the bishops, and even maybe bringing rooks to g file or even the third rank. I must admit I was horrified by Ruy Lopez personally, and never could equalize as Black. (Now I exclusively play Sicilian against 1.e4)

The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy Lpez de Segura. It is one of the most popular openings, with many variations. In the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO), all codes from C60 to C99 are assigned to the Ruy Lopez.

The opening is named after the 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy Lpez de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del Axedrez, written in 1561.[2] Lopez advocated 3.Bb5 as superior to 3.Bc4, and was of the opinion that Black should play 2...d6 (the Philidor Defence) to avoid it. Although it bears his name, this particular opening was included in the Gttingen manuscript, which dates from c. 1490.[3] A popular use of the Ruy Lopez opening did not develop, however, until the mid-19th century, when the Finnish and Russian[4] theoretician Carl Jaenisch "rediscovered" its potential. The opening remains the most commonly used amongst the open games in master play; it has been adopted by almost all players during their careers, many of whom have played it with both colours.[5] Due to the difficulty for Black in achieving equality, a common nickname for the opening is "The Spanish Torture".[6]

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