Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

The Spanish is a slow squeeze: the bishop on b5 leans on the knight that guards e5, and you build up behind it instead of grabbing anything. The moves are the same almost every game, so you learn one plan deeply, and most opponents under 1200 lose patience long before you have to.

Spar this opening

Your setup

Bishopa4 / b3 / c2
Knightf3
Rooke1
Knightd2 / c3
Pawnse4 c3
CastleO-O

c3 before d4. c3 first, then d4. The pawn on c3 supports the push, and it opens c2 so the bishop can drop back when ...Na5 and ...c5 come. Push d4 without it and the bishop can be trapped on b3 — the Noah's Ark trap, which beginners fall into every day.

Ideas

Lean on e5, never take it

Bb5 pressures the knight that guards e5. The pawn is not for taking.

The whole opening is pressure, not material. With Bb5 pinning the c6-knight and Nf3 attacking, Black has to spend moves keeping e5 alive: ...d6, ...Be7, ...b5. Every one of those moves is a move not spent attacking you. If you ever play Nxe5 while the knight still stands on c6, you have given a knight for a pawn.

...a6: retreat to a4

When the pawn kicks the bishop, drop back to a4 and keep the pressure.

Ba4 keeps the bishop on the diagonal to c6, so the knight stays tied to its job. Trading on c6 (the Exchange Variation) is a real opening too, but it gives away the piece that makes the Spanish work. Keep it.

e4 is bait once you have castled

If they take e4 with the knight, Re1 hits it and you win the pawn back.

After 5.O-O the e-pawn is loose on purpose. If Black takes it, Re1 attacks the knight, and Bxc6 followed by Nxe5 gets the pawn back with a better structure for you. The knight on e4 has to run, and Black's development stalls. Grandmasters play 6.d4 here; Re1 is the simpler road and it is just as sound.

...b5 kicks again: go to b3

Retreat to b3, never take on b5. From b3 the bishop stares at f7.

Bxb5 axb5 hands over a bishop for a pawn. Bb3 keeps the bishop on the best diagonal on the board, a2–g8, where it points at f7 for the rest of the game. Make sure e4 is covered first — Re1 or d3 — because from b3 the bishop no longer defends it by the Bxc6 trick.

c3, then d4

The plan: c3 gives the bishop c2 and supports d4. Then push.

Once both sides are castled, White's plan is the same every game: c3, h3 to stop ...Bg4, then d4. The pawn on c3 means ...exd4 can be met by cxd4 and the centre stays full. It also means ...Na5 hitting the bishop is answered by Bc2, still pointing at h7.

Watch for Noah's Ark

...c5 and ...c4 can trap the bishop on b3. c3 gives it c2.

With Black's pawns on a6 and b5, a bishop on b3 has exactly one retreat square: c2. If c3 has not been played, ...c5 and ...c4 simply shut the door and the bishop is lost for a pawn or two. The moment ...c5 appears, ask whether c2 is free.

When the book runs out

Castled, c3, h3, d4 in. Now reroute the knight: Nbd2, Nf1, Ng3.

The Closed Spanish middlegame is a manoeuvring game. Your knight walks Nbd2–f1–g3 (or e3), the bishop sits on c2, and you decide between keeping the centre closed with d5 or opening it with dxe5. Black will try ...c5 and ...Nc6 on the queenside. Do not hurry. The side that improves its worst piece one more time usually wins.

The structure

The Closed Spanish: the bishop on b3 aims at f7, c3 prepares d4 and keeps c2 free, and the queen's knight is about to set off on its d2–f1–g3 tour.

Traps

Noah's Ark

e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 d6 d4 b5 Bb3 Nxd4 Nxd4 exd4 Qxd4 c5 Qd5 Be6 Qc6+ Bd7 Qd5 c4

The tell: You push d4 before c3, Black plays ...b5 and trades on d4, and the queen recapture looks free.

The bishop on b3 has one retreat square, c2, and without c3 it is blocked by your own pawn. After ...c5 and ...c4 the bishop is caught and goes for a pawn or two. The cure is always the same: c3 before d4.

Grabbing e5 too soon

e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 Nxe5 Nxe5

The tell: The bishop has pinned the c6-knight for two moves and e5 starts to look undefended.

A pin is not a capture. The c6-knight still takes on e5, and you have given a knight for a pawn. Only after Bxc6 removes the defender does Nxe5 become a real threat — which is exactly what happens in the Open Spanish.

e4 is poison after Re1

e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O Be7 Re1 b5 Bb3 Nxe4 Rxe4 d5 Nxe5

The tell: Black kicks the bishop with ...b5 and, now that it no longer covers e4 through c6, takes the pawn.

The rook took over the job of guarding e4 on move six. After Rxe4 the ...d5 fork looks like it wins the rook back, but Nxe5 hits c6 and the whole thing collapses on Black. Material stays firmly in your favour.

Model games

The Closed Spanish, move by move

e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O Be7 Re1 b5 Bb3 d6 c3 O-O h3 Na5 Bc2 c5 d4 Qc7 Nbd2

The whole plan in eleven moves: pin, retreat along a4–b3, castle, Re1, c3, h3, then d4 with the knight setting off on its d2–f1–g3 tour.

The Open Spanish, the simple way

e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O Nxe4 Re1 Nc5 Bxc6 dxc6 Nxe5 Be7 d3 O-O Nc3 Be6 Be3

Black takes the bait on e4. Re1 hits the knight, Bxc6 removes the defender, Nxe5 gets the pawn back, and Black is left with doubled c-pawns while you develop quietly.

The Berlin, kept quiet

e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 Nf6 d3 Bc5 c3 O-O O-O d5 exd5 Qxd5 Qb3 Qd6 Nbd2

d3 holds e4 and avoids the famous queenless endgame. c3 prepares d4 and gives the bishop c2; Black frees the game with ...d5 and you develop calmly.

How the coach grades a move

Every move you play gets one of six grades, from the engine’s view of the position, with the book’s verdict taking over when it is harsher. The sentence beside it is always the reason. Tap it for what the move did, why this opening wants it, and whether anything was better.

Best: Nothing better was available.
Good: Within a few percent of best. Noise at this depth.
Playable: A small real gap. The better move is named, play goes on.
Inaccuracy: Seven to twelve points of winning chances. The game stops to show you.
Mistake: Twelve or more, or a move the book warns against, or a broken order rule.
Blunder: Twenty-five or more. Usually material.

Catalogued as C60–C99 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, the reference index most databases sort by.