Play the Ruy Lopez - Part 1
GM Ivan Cheparinov starts a new fascinating project - in two databases, he will provide full Ruy Lopez repertoire for White.
Many players are hesitant to try the Ruy Lopez opening due to its complexity. Aside from the theoretical overload, the Ruy Lopez necessitates a subtle understanding of the arising pawn structures. There is, however, some good news. You will have a reliable lifetime weapon if you put in the necessary effort.
If you want to get strong Ruy Lopez foundations, we can suggest the following two courses - Understand the Ruy Lopez (by GM Dejan Bojkov) and the Modern Chess Camp on the Ruy Lopez.
The starting position of the current project arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5
In the first part of his Ruy Lopez journey, GM Cheparinov covers everything except the position arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 which will be dealt with in Part 2. In this database, you will find 16 theoretical chapters, 16 interactive test positions, a Memory Booster, and a Video Version (6h and 40 min Running Time).
When studying this course, don't try to memorize all the variations (unless you are a 2700+ player). Nevertheless, we strongly suggest that you take a closer look at all the lines. In this way, you will see a lot of recurring tactical and positional ideas.
Now, we shall discuss some of the interesting highlights that you can see in the course.
Against the dreaded Berlin, Cheparinov suggests 4.d3.
4.0-0 is the most popular move and there is a lot of theory on it. Instead, 4.d3 is giving more options for White and it's one of the best ways to play against the Berlin Defense.
Even though the Black's main moves are 4...d6 and ...Bc5, Cheparinov also examines in detail rare continuations such as 4...Ne7, and 4...Bd6. By submitting the Berlin Defence to deep analysis, the Bulgarian grandmaster manages to create practical problems for Black in all the lines.
In this course, you will also see why Cheparinov considers 4.d3 to be White's most preicse reaction to the Janisch Gambit arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5
It turns out that Black faces huge practical problems in this system. It's not even clear whether he can achieve an objective equality.
It goes without saying that all Black's options on move 3 covered in a huge detail. Some of these options are indeed very challenging. A typical example is the move 3...Bc5 which was recently covered by Eljanov in his database Practical Repertoire against Ruy Lopez. For all Ruy Lopez aficionados will be a pleasure to compare the conclusions of the two top-level players and theoreticians.
Another important crossroads in this course is the position arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4
At this point, Cheparinov examines all Black's continuations except 4...Nf6. The move 4...Nf6 will be the subject of the second and final part of the Ruy Lopez project. As you will see in the analysis, none of the 4th move alternatives can provide Black with a clear equality.
To be honest, however, we must ackowledge that a lot of knowledge is required.
FREE CHAPTER
FREE VIDEO CHAPTER