The Ruy Lopez for White: A Complete Attacking Repertoire
A single capture gives this repertoire its shape. In GM Sina Movahed's Ruy Lopez it's Bxc6 — White trading the Spanish bishop for the c6-knight, an old resource that here turns on when it's played. Movahed's case is structural: reach for it at the right moment and Black is left with pieces poorly suited to the position that results.
His foundation is the deferred exchange: 5...Be7 6.Bxc6. Instead of capturing on move four, Movahed waits until Black has committed the bishop to e7 and the knight to f6 — and then argues those very pieces sit awkwardly for the pawn structure that arises after ...dxc6. The aim is not to refute the Ruy Lopez, but to hand Black an unfamiliar middlegame from an entirely familiar move order.
Understanding over memorisation
Every World Champion from Steinitz and Capablanca through Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, and Carlsen has leaned on the Ruy Lopez, and the theory has thickened with each generation. Movahed's answer is to teach the plans and structures rather than a forest of forced lines, so you meet the middlegame on ideas rather than recall
The repertoire is built to pose practical problems everywhere. Against the Berlin (3...Nf6) he steers into 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Ba4, a direction that runs deep enough to test even a well-prepared opponent. The Jaenisch/Schliemann Gambit (3...f5) is met by the classical 4.d3; the trending Cozio (3...Nge7) by a fresh 4.Nc3. Even the fashionable 4...Bc5, seen recently from Nakamura and Gukesh, gets a chapter of its own.
The author's reasoning
Movahed is one of Modern Chess's most prolific authors, and his choice of 6.Bxc6 reflects a repertoire-builder's logic: choose the line where the opponent's preparation helps them least. Having also explored several of these positions from the Black side, he has a precise sense of exactly where the second player's setups begin to creak — and the whole repertoire is tuned to press on those points.
A map of the repertoire
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 — Black's third-move replies
- 3...d6 and other rare third moves → Chapter 1
- 3...Nge7 — the Cozio, met by 4.Nc3 → Chapter 2
- 3...f5 — the Jaenisch/Schliemann Gambit, met by 4.d3 → Chapter 3
- 3...Nf6 — the Berlin, 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Ba4:
- 6...exd4 and sidelines → Chapter 4
- 6...e4, the critical test → Chapter 5
3...a6 4.Ba4 — Black's fourth-move replies
- 4...f5 and other fourth-move deviations → Chapter 6
- 4...Nge7 → Chapter 7
- 4...Bc5 — the trending line (Nakamura, Gukesh) → Chapter 8
- 4...d6 — the deferred Steinitz → Chapter 9
4...Nf6 5.O-O — Black's fifth-move replies
- 5...d6 — a solid but somewhat passive setup → Chapter 10
- 5...Nxe4 — the Open Spanish → Chapter 11
- 5...Bc5 — the Møller variation → Chapter 12
- 5...b5 6.Bb3 — the Archangel complex:
- 6...Bb7, the older Archangel → Chapter 13
- 6...Bc5, the Modern Archangel → Chapter 14
5...Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Re1
- 7...Bg4, ...Qd6 and rarer tries → Chapter 15
- 7...Nd7, the main defence of e5 → Chapter 16
Premium course features
This is a Modern Chess Premium course, built as a complete training system:
- 16 theory chapters
- Video instruction throughout
- 30 test positions — critical moments with tactical and strategic solutions
- 5 training positions for interactive practice against the engine
- To-Go Version of every chapter — condensed files for fast pre-game review
- Memory Booster — for long-term recall of the key ideas
- Multilingual PGN files — English, German, French and Spanish
- Full download access — all materials are yours to keep
Round out your 1.e4
Movahed's repertoire answers 1...e5. The rest of a practical 1.e4 arsenal comes from GM Baadur Jobava and GM Pier Luigi Basso in their 1.e4 According to Jobava series — tricky, low-maintenance solutions to Black's other main replies.
The Sicilian is met with the Alapin, across Part 1 (the 2...Nf6 lines) and Part 2 (2...d5). The Caro-Kann is handled by The Fantasy Variation, the French by The Exchange French, and everything else by 1.e4 vs the Sidelines.
Add The Ruy Lopez for White: A Complete Attacking Repertoire to your preparation and start posing the questions from move three.