Open Ruy Lopez

Rating:
Summary: The Open Defense is under a Cloud
Review: The Open Ruy Lopez has been played by many famous Grandmasters since the end of the nineteenth century. It has been used in World Championship contests by Schlecter in 1910, Euwe in 1935 and 1948, Korchnoi in 1978 and 1981, and Anand in 1995. Timman and Yusupov have contributed many ideas to enrich this opening, although the hero of the Open Spanish has to be Viktor Korchnoi. The variation seemed to bring out the best features of his complex counterattacking style. Flear's book, together with Mikhail Krasenkov's older (1995) book "The Open Spanish" present the interesting development of this line. Flear's book has many games played in the late 1990's, while Krasenkov's has many older historic games. I have been looking for a defense based on the reply 1..e5 for some time now. My goal is to find a defense that I can play against a strong players, who, I will assume, have studied Opening Theory in depth. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that the Open Ruy Lopez is not going to be it. Flear, while trying to be objective, is, I believe, too enthusiastic about the merits of the Open Defense. This is understandable, as he has spent a long time mastering it. I think that anyone who has the ability and practice of using books like The Open Ruy Lopez can quickly sift through the material (This does not imply gaining mastery of it by any means) and identify the critical variations. Any opening book that misses key lines or tries to disguise them is of questionable worth. Flear, to his credit, helps the reader find key positions, his book is well laid out in this regard. Looking at the opening from the Black side, it is clear that the critical line starts with 9 Nbd2. Flear is too optimistic of the possibilities for Black here. If a player of the Black pieces is willing to endure a worse ending and try to make a draw, then the Open is, I think, still a viable choice, but if you are seeking a confrontation with good chances of counterplay and a possible win, then the Open is in trouble. There is an ongoing trend among the SuperGrandmasters to find ways to suffocate a potentially dynamic defense. The Dragon, the Benoni, the Alekhine, among many, have suffered from this approach by White players. The Open has come under the same suffocating attack. It is a testament to its dynamic features that it lasted so long. The line 9 Nbd2 has been around forever, but in 1978 Anatoly Karpov adopted it against Korchnoi and hit him with a shocking piece sacrifice 11 Ng5!. This move is credited to the mind of Karpov's trainer Igor Zaitsev, but I suspect Mikhail Tal did early analysis on it as well. Somehow Korchnoi survived but when Challenger Anand tried to withstand the attack in 1995 Kasparov smashed him in a game that sounded the Death Knell of the Open Ruy Lopez. Shirov-Timman 1996 helped undermine another line, that, if Flear is correct, is now winning for white. Only Sokolov's 11 Bd5 move seemed playable, but this has no winning chances for black, (unless somehow white blows a fuse in a sacrificial attack against the black position, I think it more likely black will lose after Nxf7.) I think the clearest indication the line 9 Nbd2 Nc5 10 c3 d4?! 11 Ng5!! is trouble for black is that GM's have stopped playing it. Instead they have fallen back on the old Berlin variation with 10...Be7 11 Bc2 Bg4 12 Re1. This line is where the true theoretical verdict on the viability of the Open Ruy Lopez lies. If Black can get decent positions here then all would be ok. In fact, since that day in 1978 many Grandmaster games have been fought here, and Black held his own, until the late 1990s, as the theory of the lines here (with 12..Qd7 and 12..0-0) developed twenty five moves deep or so, and move orders became more refined, gradually Blacks counterplay is stifled. The Qd7 lines, in which Korchnoi won some tough hand to hand battles, look untenable now. Theory has moved beyond Flear here and it looks even worse for Black. The lines with 12..0-0 look a bit safer but I have trouble seeing how Black can find many winning chances here, he has to go into contortions just to hang on. I laugh when someone recommends the Open for beginners to teach them the dynamics of chess. While I think the Open is a very strong weapon if played against someone unfamiliar with its fine points, the thought of a novice trying to hold some the positions in the Berlin variation is laughable. Perhaps one point in its favor is that if the White player must play to win against the Open then perhaps he should avoid the possible endgames that can follow 9 Nbd2. 9 c3 Bc5 offers a sharper game where both sides have chances, but white can probably get an edge in the key lines. If everyone played 9 c3 the Open would be played alot more. As it stands today I cannot recall a Super GM game with the Open at a major classical Tournament this year. The only Spanish line seen regularly are the Anti-Marshall (see GM Adams) or World Champion Kramnik's Berlin Defense (not to be confused with the Berlin variation of the Open) Otherwise the Petroff is the safe e5 defense of choice at high level. Players like Shirov have dabbled with the Archangel but it seems too unstable to really tell what the state of theory is at any given time (maybe that is a good thing for dynamic black players.) The Berlin defense, while complex, does not fit the image of "dynamic conterattack" The Marshall Attack, does, but few are willing to tace it and avoid it with set-ups that can be almost as troubling as these Open Ruy Lopez lines. Poor Nigel Short had a rough time in 1993 playing this against Kasparov. The Berlin did hold up for Kramnik in his match, although Kasparov showed signed of improvement in Astania, defeating Kramnik and the "Berlin Wall". I am left still seeking a defense against 1 e4. I have doubts about those who claim 1..e5 is better than the Sicilian. What else can Black play if he wants to win? the Alekhine? Yikes..However I have not given up yet on 1..e5. But I will wait for a new champion to emerge, following the path blazed by Korchnoi and Yusupov, to lift the Open Ruy Lopez out of the mud and lead the way for all of us. When that day comes I will be the first to join in playing ...5 Nxe4!

Rating:
Summary: A very solid introduciton
Review: This is a very solid introduciton to a fun opening. Flear should be commended especially for the time he spends at the end of the book addressing lines which make rare appearances in Grandmaster play but which the casual player will encounter often (such as 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Re1?!) and can have a lot of sting if you don't know how to handle them.

The book is built around illustrative games and while it strives for theoretical accuracy, Flear is clearly writing for the player of the black pieces. He makes some unusual recommendations (such as the Dilworth Gambit, where black gives up two minor pieces for a rook and pawn).

Like all opening books, this one is probably a waste of your time and money if you don't already have a solid understanding of tactical and endgame fundamentals. But if you do and you're looking for an alternative to the theory-intensive Marshall attack, which allows black to play for the win and avoid the tradiitonal "Spanish Torture," then the Open Lopez may be for you, and this book is as good a starting point as you're likely to find.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Work
Review: This is an excellent work for anyone looking to play the Black side of the Open Ruy. It uses complete games with fairly deep analysis, and seems to cover all the lines (something that can't be said about that many opening books now-a-days). I wouldn't recommend this book though to someone that doesn't have a thorough understanding of positional play, as a lot of lines lead to imbalances that are much too complex for a beginner (the Dilworth Attack comes to mind, with Black getting a pawn (sometimes 2) and a rook for 2 pieces, and yet White still gets the minimal advantage due to the bishop pair).

The other good thing is the book isn't biased to one side or the other, though to me it would seem to be a bit too detailed to be extremely effective to study from the White side unless you have all the time in the world, given that White also has to know the Closed Variation, Steinitz, Old Steinitz, Schlieman, and Bird Variations, just to name a few.

The other plus for this book is that it includes many games on lines in which Black must play exact just to survive (for example, the variation where White sacrifices his knight on g5 gets a few games coverage), and explains why the moves that fail truly fail.

A must have for anyone that plays the open ruy as Black.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Work
Review: This is an excellent work for anyone looking to play the Black side of the Open Ruy. It uses complete games with fairly deep analysis, and seems to cover all the lines (something that can't be said about that many opening books now-a-days). I wouldn't recommend this book though to someone that doesn't have a thorough understanding of positional play, as a lot of lines lead to imbalances that are much too complex for a beginner (the Dilworth Attack comes to mind, with Black getting a pawn (sometimes 2) and a rook for 2 pieces, and yet White still gets the minimal advantage due to the bishop pair).

The other good thing is the book isn't biased to one side or the other, though to me it would seem to be a bit too detailed to be extremely effective to study from the White side unless you have all the time in the world, given that White also has to know the Closed Variation, Steinitz, Old Steinitz, Schlieman, and Bird Variations, just to name a few.

The other plus for this book is that it includes many games on lines in which Black must play exact just to survive (for example, the variation where White sacrifices his knight on g5 gets a few games coverage), and explains why the moves that fail truly fail.

A must have for anyone that plays the open ruy as Black.