Wikibooks

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...a6/4. Ba4/4...Nf6/5. O-O/5...Nxe4

< Chess Opening Theory‎ | 1. e4‎ | 1...e5‎ | 2. Nf3‎ | 2...Nc6‎ | 3. Bb5‎ | 3...a6‎ | 4. Ba4‎ | 4...Nf6‎ | 5. O-O
The latest reviewed version was checked on 23 June 2014. There are 2 pending changes awaiting review.
Ruy Lopez Open Defence
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black kingb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black pawnb6 black kingc6 black knightd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 white bishopb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 black knightf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 white knightg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 black kingf1 white rookg1 white kingh1 black king1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/4p3/B3n3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4
Parent: Ruy Lopez

Ruy Lopez, Riga Variation

edit

The natural 6. Re1 is in fact a very minor sideline; not only does it commit the rook to the e-file unnecessarily, but it allows Black's knight to retreat to c5, forcing the exchange of the a4-bishop. If Bxc6 dxc6, Black is then doing rather well compared to the Exchange Variation as the bishop has lost a tempo and the disappearance of the centre pawns favours Black's bishop pair.

The immediate attempt to grab the pawn back with 6. Bxc6 and 7. Nxe5 is similar but even kinder to Black, who can now take the initiative by targeting the undefended white knight on e5.

Instead, White should control c5 with 6. d4 which tends to be a good developing move anyway. This threatens Black's e-pawn again, while the complications resulting from 6...exd4 are not considered too much to handle.

Theory table

edit

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4

6
6. Re1
- 		=
6. Bxc6
- 		=
6. d4
- 		=

When contributing to this Wikibook, please follow the Conventions for organization.

References

edit
 

Wikipedia has related information at Ruy Lopez

Retrieved from "https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Chess_Opening_Theory/1._e4/1...e5/2._Nf3/2...Nc6/3._Bb5/3...a6/4._Ba4/4...Nf6/5._O-O/5...Nxe4&oldid=4217031"