The popularity of 1…e5 has increased greatly in the recent years. For a long time, this response against white’s move 1.e4 was considered a less ambitious option for black than, for example, The Sicilian Defense. However, times have changed, so has the way we perceive 1…e5 nowadays.

Thanks to the efforts of players like Kramnik, Carlsen, Anand and basically most of the elite players, variations like the Berlin, Breyer or Marshall Attack have turned 1…e5 into a very ambitious way of playing, aiming not only to equalize, but actually to win without giving white much chances for an attack.

He Ruy Lopez is a chess opening. The idea: White's attacks a knight which defends the e5-pawn from a knight. White's objective is to damage Black's pawn structure. The Ruy Lopez, also known as the Spanish Game, is one of the most popular openings in chess, and has long been considered the best way for White to fight for an advantage after 1.e4 e5. Named after the 16th century spanish priest, Ruy Lopez de Segura, it was not immediately popular.

In this article we would like to present an ”almost forgotten” weapon for white as a good alternative to play from time to time: The Worrall Attack. This variation usually starts after the moves:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2

However, white can play the move Qe2 also against the Berlin:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2

Download tantri basa kelas 5. Aplikasi Android Buku Pegangan Siswa TANTRI BASA untuk kelas 4 yang digunakan di Propinsi Jawa Timur.

There are several positive points to add this variation to your opening repertoire. For example:

  • White avoids the (big) amount of theory from the mainlines of the Ruy Lopez, including the Open Variation (5…Nxe4).
  • This will reduce considerably the amount of opening study;
  • Sidestepping the Berlin Endgame;
  • Opening based on ideas, positionally sound. Doesn’t rely on memory or crucial move orders;
  • Being a sideline, your opponents may not be as well prepared as you. So, even if the main recommendations result in an equal position, the line can be very difficult to remember.

Tip:

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How to study it?

When it comes to such an opening as the Ruy Lopez, it can be difficult to study it by going through the lines one by one. We recommend to first start by model games from the strong players who frequently play the line in order to grasp the ideas. Then, after some practice, the specialization can begin from analyzing your own games and your opponent’s responses.

Players to look for

Here is a short list of the most notable players who have played The Worrall Attack, either against 3…Nf6 or 3…a6 4.Ba4 Nf6:

  • Nigel Short
  • Sergey Tiviakov (possibly the main specialist)
  • Vugar Gashimov
  • Michael Adams

Let’s now take a look at black’s possible set-ups.

Black develops with Bc5:

One of the ”drawbacks” of playing Bc5 is that white can pin the f6 knight by playing Bg5. In case black prevents this idea, white should play Be3, opposing the powerful c5 bishop as seen in the game Tiviakov – Friedel.

Black develops with Be7 (Closed Spanish style):

Against the closed system, white’s main plan is to play Rd1 followed by d4. Once the center is closed, he will continue to attack on the kingside. See the game between Tiviakov and Nyback.

Black plays Be7 and d5

This central rupture is always something to take into serious consideration. Black aims to either liquidate the center by capturing on e4, or sometimes push d5-d4, gaining more space and weakening white’s position. However, this action is not risk free and white has many tricky ideas at his disposal. We can see this in the game between Tiviakov and Short.

As you can see, the line is quite attractive despite not being among the most played variations at top level. We hope these games serve you as inspiration and guide to take the study further and use it in your games.

If you want to improve your chess level, you need to have a clear study plan. If you aim for a dramatic improvement at chess you need to work on all of the elements of the game in a systematic way:

  • tactics
  • positional play
  • attacking skills
  • endgame technique
  • classical games analysis
  • psychological preparation
  • and much more

That seems to be like a lot of things, and that is. But no worries, we have made it easy for you. Our comprehensive training course covers it all and much more. Sign up for 21 Day Training right now!

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Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer (C95)
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 d6 9 h3 Nb8 10 d4
Number of games in database: 2207
Years covered: 1954 to 2020
Overall record:
White wins 34.2%
Black wins 22.4%
Draws 43.5%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White PiecesWith the Black Pieces
Mikhail Tal22 games
Efim Geller17 games
Viswanathan Anand16 games
Boris Spassky54 games
Svetozar Gligoric42 games
Krishnan Sasikiran38 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White WinsBlack Wins
Fischer vs Spassky, 1972
Fischer vs Spassky, 1992
Tal vs Spassky, 1980
Smirin vs Beliavsky, 1989
Robert E Byrne vs Spassky, 1974
Tal vs Spassky, 1965
<< previous chapternext chapter>>
page 1 of 89; games 1-25 of 2,207
GameResultMovesYearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. V Zagorovsky vs G Borisenko0-1551954URS-ch sfC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
2. L Rudenko vs V Borisenko-Belova1-04119542nd Soviet Team CupC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
3. Tal vs V Zurakhov½-½271955RigaC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
4. Ravinsky vs Lutikov0-1451955URS-ch sfC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
5. Boleslavsky vs Ragozin1-0411956USSR ChampionshipC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
6. Geller vs Filip1-0381956Amsterdam CandidatesC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
7. A Matanovic vs Smyslov½-½281956YUG-URSC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
8. I Ivanco vs J Kozma½-½231956CSR-ch sfC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
9. K W Behle vs S Wolk½-½411957FRG-chC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
10. L Shamkovich vs Ragozin0-1401957URS-ch sfC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
11. Kholmov vs Y Kots½-½741957URS-ch sfC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
12. P Clarke vs Blau1-0511957Hastings 1957/58C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
13. V Zurakhov vs Zamikhovsky½-½411958Kiev-chC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
14. A Bannik vs V Shiyanovsky0-1611958UKR-chC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
15. A Bannik vs M Levin1-0441958UKR-chC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
16. Geller vs Spassky1-0391958USSR ChampionshipC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
17. R Bogdanovic vs Ivkov0-1391958YUG-ch 13thC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
18. T Weinberger vs I Rivise1-0451959So. California ChampionshipC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
19. E Walther vs Unzicker0-1521959ZurichC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
20. Gufeld vs Zamikhovsky½-½481960Avantgard-chC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
21. Unzicker vs Tal0-1261960FRG-URSC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
22. G Chalkhasuren vs G Barcza0-1481960Leipzig ol (Men) qual-CC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
23. Lombardy vs A Matanovic½-½241960Leipzig ol (Men) fin-AC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
24. Unzicker vs J H Donner½-½291960Leipzig ol (Men) fin-AC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
25. Tal vs Unzicker1-0251960StockholmC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
page 1 of 89; games 1-25 of 2,207
REFINE SEARCH:White wins (1-0)Black wins (0-1)Draws (1/2-1/2)
Aug-12-02refutor: the breyer has always seemed to be one of the strangest lines you can play in the closed lopez, moving the knight back to b8 just seems way too odd to me, but at least it doesn't get stuck on the side of the board like it does sometimes in the tchigorin lines. somebody once told me that the knight has already done his job on c6, so it's okay to move him back to b8 and i guess white's already lost some tempi with the bihsop moves but i don't think i could play it ;)
May-30-03Benjamin Lau: The closed Ruy Lopez in general has always been pretty weird to me- moving stuff back and forth for little reason. But it's still fun! I like the Breyer more than the others for some reason. I think that's just because it was one of the openings which helped me develop my positioning skills the most.
Feb-04-05John Meriwether: I think the Breyer is a solid opening that in the hands of an experienced chess player would serve him (or her) rather well. I rather enjoy playing it even with the backward knight move to b8.
Nov-17-05AlexanderMorphy: i have played this opening a few times and have drawn my 4 games..it's quite a drawish opening if neither side does anything too fancy, but white always has the better chance of winning/
Apr-19-07
gambitfan: GOD Thu 19/04/2007

Game of the Day

Aug-21-07get Reti: I'm still learning and I'm not sure how to respond to 1.e5 as black. I'm a positional player (I like the queen's gambit). I've gone all over the place, from the french to the sicilian dragon, but have had no luck. This opening seems to suit my positional style, as it focuses on putting pieces on their best squares, for example, the knight goes to d7, the light bishop goes to b7, the dark bishop tries to go to g7, and the rook goes to e8. Another exicting thing is that black can play ..d5 if prepared correctly. Would anyone recommend this or is it too much theory for someone like me?
Aug-21-07
Open Defence: <Would anyone recommend this or is it too much theory for someone like me?> well the Closed Ruy is great, there is a downside on the amount of theory but you can narrow it down to a few lines.. another alternative might be the Petrov Defence.. rather than memorize the theory. maybe you should just play many Ruy Games and note down your moves .analyse them against the theory moves and then narrow your lines down. once you have a feel for the Opening you sometimes dont need to memorize the lines and it just flows..
Jan-04-08
Open Defence: I see Mamedyarov playing the Breyer now and then.. maybe Aronian too ?
Nov-18-08Cactus: Many play it from time to time. It is very solid. Top level results lately favour black!
Aug-17-10rapidcitychess: <rather than memorize the theory. maybe you should just play many Ruy Games and note down your moves . analyse them against the theory moves and then narrow your lines down. once you have a feel for the Opening you sometimes dont need to memorize the lines and it just flows..> Wow! Good idea for any heavy theory opening, like Sicilian and Semi-Slav.
Aug-02-11wuvmuffin72: I've studied the Zaitsev back then with the idea that I could have a back up defense to the Sicilian. I ended up ditching the Sicilian because I had way too much theory to deal with with the my two defenses to 1. e4. Eventually I ditched the Sicilian to work on the open games because I was winning a lot of games as Black against weaker players and obtained equal positions against stronger players with 1. .. e5. After playing the Zaitsev for a year I studied the Breyer because I had an old copy of Chess Informant on the Breyer from the early nineties and was quite surprised that my prep work on the Closed Ruy has lessened significantly compared to the Zaitsev and that lines going past move 20-24 hasn't changed all that much in the past decade or two. I was quite surprised by this fact and did some updating on modern moves using chessbase.

The quality of the Breyer is almost equaled to the intuitive playability of the Nimzo-Indian.. I said almost. Breyer might require some intensive learning, but improvising when you forget some of the theory after move 15 tends to be more forgiving compared to some openings. I feel much worse about forgetting the theory to the (Max Lange or that Italian/Scotch gambit complex in general) attack compared to forgetting the theory to the Breyer.

Feb-10-12
Penguincw: Opening of the Day

Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer Defense
1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.O-O ♗e7 6.♖e1 b5 7.♗b3 O-O 8.c3 d6 9.h3 ♘b8


click for larger view
Jan-19-13Tigranny: Does Black have better chances of winning with the Breyer than with the Chigorin?
Jan-19-13Marmot PFL: Probably the Chigorin is better for complicating the game while the Breyer is very hard to beat.
Jan-19-13Tigranny: <Marmot PFL> Thanks!
Jan-19-13Marmot PFL: For a while I found the Breyer almost impossible to beat so I started playing it. I won a last round game against a player 200 points above me that we both wanted to win just by playing solid and letting him use up most of his time trying to find an attack. It can be hard to win for black though (at least quickly) as the game sometimes gets very closed with white having more space.
Mar-25-13WiseWizard: Why is this considered more solid than the Chigorin? I feel like Black's queenside play in the chigorin is more straightforward and flexible since he has the pawns side by side on c5 +b5. Whats black's goal/dream position out of these openings?
Aug-30-13Amarande: <WiseWizard> You can have your cake and eat it too in this case; Nb8 doesn't in and of itself commit Black not to adopt the Chigorin formation.

In any case, if you want to play c5 you're going to have to move Nc6, so the Chigorin and Breyer difference largely boils down to how you want to redeploy this Knight, which there are three choices in regards to (assuming that you aren't planning on moving Be7 anytime soon, and that if you plan c5 you also plan to wait to move the Queen until she can go to c7), namely a5 (Chigorin mainline), b8 (Breyer mainline), and a7.

Each has its merits and faults.

Na5 - The Chigorin move forces White to make a decision as to whether or not he wants to retain the Spanish bishop with Bc2 or permit it to be exchanged (which is actually not as bad as it seems; the exchange gives White an open a-file, and the Spanish bishop often loses its efficacy after the opening stages in the closed Lopez - this being particularly so if White decides to seal the centre with d5). On the downside, the Knight is the most out of play on this square compared to the other two choices, and in many variations it's going to get pushed to d8 (an especially poor square) or have to retreat via b8 anyway.

Nb8 - The Breyer move is a very flexible choice, on the other hand. From b8, the knight can easily come back into play at d7, after which it can assist in kingside action (via f8 to g6, eyeing f4) or in the centre or queenside (at b6 or, if Black foregoes the pawn advance, at c5). The lost tempi are not so crucial in a position like this one, where both players have castled, the centre is closed and positional manoeuvring begins to be the order of the day for the time being; besides, it's debatable whether Black has really made a net loss of time at all here, being that as noted before the knight's likely to have to move from c6 anyway, and in addition to this White has lost time as well (8 c3 is now a wasted move, serving no useful purpose as the Bb3 no longer needs a haven and no sane player of the Black pieces is going to play exd4 anytime soon, and on top of that it blocks a square for Nb1!). The Spanish bishop remains on b3, but this doesn't seem to matter much.

Na7 - An odd move; I'm not sure if this variation has a name. The knight's reentry point here is c8, after which it can go to b6 or later on through e7 to g6 eyeing f4; in this regard it seems likely to lead to strategies similar to the Breyer.

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  • суббота 02 мая
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