Dear Reader,
Here is the second book of the series "Opening for White according to Anand - 1.e4", in which we deal with open games. This volume is devoted to the main lines of one of the most popular and interesting openings in the chess theory - the Ruy Lopez.
It is absolutely insufficient to only know the theory well in order to play expertly the positions arising in the main lines of the Ruy Lopez. You also need to understand profoundly plenty of fine points of strategy and be able to implement original middlegame plans in order to succeed. This opening has always been one of the most popular at top-level and quite deservedly so. There are numerous examples of supreme mastership of the strongest players of the past and present (from Lasker to Anand) in playing the "Spanish" positions.
Chess fashion, just like every other fashion, is very transient and after only a few years different lines are focusing the attention. Some of the lines of the Ruy Lopez are so variable in every aspect, like for example the open variation and the system 5...b5 6.Bb3 Bc5, yet they are both abundant with lively piece play and complex strategic essence.
The great volume of vitally necessary information and the complexity of the arising problems lead to the fact that there have always been plenty of players even at the top-level quite willing to avoid the main lines of this opening. White has many ways to do that at his disposal - starting with - 2.f4 up to 4.Bxc6 and even further... I am not planning to criticize the adherents of the King's Gambit, or the endgame specialists who stick to the exchange variation. I only want to share with you my opinion that whoever avoids the main lines of the Ruy Lopez deliberately just reduces his understanding of chess in general.
There is a wide-spread opinion that the main variations of the Rut Lopez lead as a rule to dull closed positions without any scope for a really creative play. I do not even want to comment on that seriously. It is enough to have a look at the best examples from the chess classics and you will witness beautiful positional sacrifices of material as well as spectacular kingside attacks.
We tried to include in this book all the best achievements of the contemporary theory and point out for you White's best ways to fight for an opening advantage. You will also find some recommendations on the more profound understanding of the strategical ideas in the middlegame and sometimes even the endgame positions. I hope that the book might be useful to all players irrelevant of their experience and chess strength and will help them improve their results in the Ruy Lopez considerably.
A. Khaliftnan 14 th World Chess Champion
P.S. I am humbly asking for your excuse if that book turned out to be a bit heavy (I mean in the physical aspect...). It is not the author's or the publisher's fault... The Ruy Lopez presently is really an opening for the chess-heavyweights!
List of Content
007 Preface
011 Part 1. - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 without 4..Nf6
045 Part 2. - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 without 5..Be7
118 Part 3. - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1
181 Part 4. - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 without 9..Na5
297 Part 5. - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2
429 Index of Variations | 