TL Chess Match 4 - Page 27

It is best we make use of the time we have as it seems the proper information and discussions aren't being made available soon enough to inform people who aren't quite sure. It is also at this stage that the Ruy Lopez really deserves to be treated as the theory shitshow it is ... yes, right from the get go.

He can respond in a few ways that we must consider:

3 ... a6 - this is by far the most standard move and allows us to enter two very different styles of play with 4. Bxc6 and 4. Ba4.

4. Bxc6 would be a poor choice for a correspondence game as exchanging pieces this early serves to weaken our attack not build one and because of this it is also why this variation has the highest draw rate of the Ruy Lopez. 4. Ba4 allows us to retreat our bishop and continue our pressure and allows us to keep the position closed to continue to keep Black in a tough spot.

If he plays 3 .. a6 I'd like to see line continue as following: 3 ... a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Qe2

I'd prefer to keep this a closed game and remove the ability to play the Marshall Attack from Ng5, even though the Marshall Attack can be countered should we play the main line and he gambits the d-pawn.

3 ... f5 - by far the most interesting variation that can be played this early.

We can still expect this to be played after 3 ... Bc5 4. c3 f5!? so it can't hurt to prepare for it. The question that it presents is do we accept or decline? The object of this opening is to start an aggressive kingside attack, so leaving the position closed and waiting until it is ideal for us to capture on f5 would be best. And I'd argue that it would be a very dubious move to accept immediately due to 4. exf5 Bxf5! . I'd push to see 4. Nc3 over 4. d3 to protect the pawn on e4 and to develop our queenside knight. It's not that pushing d3 to protect e4 is bad but rather that should Ng5 choose to play fxe4 we now have an open d file and an awkwardly placed e4 pawn as we don't have the d-pawn to support it in a e5 push and to defend would require us to pin a Knight / Bishop / Major piece to it. If Ng5 wants to give us an interesting game 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 might prove to be interesting.

I'd expect this to play out as follows: 3 ... f5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. exf5 e4 6. Qe2 or 3 ... f5 4. Nc4 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5

3 ... Nf6 - is a very drawish response that Ng5 can play, so I don't expect it in the least.

However, it does deserve our attention. It would be worth considering playing 4. Nc3 and transposing in to a Four Knights game to eliminate theory than to fall victim to playing against a very solid black defense. As this is a Correspondence Game the defense isn't a formidable as it is over the board, but it is still a hassle to deal with. I'd push for 4. Nc3, but we might wish to play in to it as it could still serve to be an interesting positional game. If we are to play in to 3 ... Nf6 then we should follow with 4. 0-0 as our pawn on e4 can be captured but we can return the favor with Re1 to capture on e5 the next move (4. 0-0 Nxe5 5. Re1 Nf6 6. Nxe5).

3 ... Bc5 - this response has fallen out of fashion and used to be the standard response to Bb5.

If he plays 3 .. Bc5 I'd like to point out that 4. Nxe5 is quite a poor choice compared to 4. c3. It would seem nice to think that 4. Nxe5 would lead to 4 ... Nxe5 5. d4! but that is only for those players who fail to notice 4 ... Bxf2+!. Why would Black allow himself to be forked and go down a pawn when he can equalize materially and gain the superior position? If we play 4. Nxe5 we lose the Knight due to 4 ... Bxf2+ 5. Kxf2 Nxe5 (5 ... Qf6+ is denied by 6. Nf3).

4. c3 gives us a strong position with the impending d4 push and kingside castle which allows the Knight to move to d2 ready to pounce to c4 and protect e4 after Nf6 is played.

These are the most common moves we should expect, but don't rule out seeing something even more unconventional. For as long as chess as been around, we've really only scratched the surface of the theory and combinations.