Ruy Lopez

Named after the 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, the Spanish is the most studied opening in chess. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, White pins the knight defending e5 and prepares to slowly squeeze the position. Unlike the Italian, nothing concrete is threatened on move three - this is a long-term strategic battle, not a tactical ambush.

Main line: Morphy Defence

Almost every Ruy Lopez at every level begins 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6. Black gets the option of trading the bishop later with ...b5, and White keeps the long-diagonal pressure. Play continues 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O, the so-called Closed Ruy Lopez - the most heavily analysed position in chess.

Variations

Berlin Defence (3...Nf6)

Black skips ...a6 and develops immediately. After 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 the queens come off and Black has a solid, drawish endgame with the bishop pair. Kramnik used the Berlin to neutralise Kasparov's 1.e4 in their 2000 world championship match - it broke the king of chess.

Exchange Variation (4.Bxc6)

If you don't want to study 30 moves of Closed Ruy theory, White can trade on c6 immediately. After 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Black has the bishop pair but doubled pawns and no easy break. White plays for the endgame, where the extra healthy pawn on the kingside (4 vs 3) tells in the long run. Bobby Fischer made this his weapon.

Open Variation (5...Nxe4)

Against the main line, Black can grab the e4 pawn with 5...Nxe4. White plays 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5, and the position opens up fast. Tactical, asymmetric, double-edged - the opposite of the slow Closed Ruy. Karpov's preferred weapon as Black.

Common traps

Noah's Ark trap: in the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4?? c5 9.Qd5 Be6 10.Qc6+ Bd7 the queen is trapped after another c4 wins the bishop. The white bishop on b3 gets stuck behind a wall of pawns - hence the name. Always check that your light-squared bishop has a retreat square before pushing pawns around it.

Mortimer trap: after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Ne7?! White's tempting 5.Nxe5? loses to 5...c6 6.Bc4 Qa5 winning the e5 knight. Don't grab free pawns without counting twice.

Typical plans for White

In the Closed Ruy, the manoeuvre is iconic: Bb3, h3 (to stop ...Bg4), Nbd2-f1-g3, then either c3+d4 in the centre or a kingside attack with the knight on g3 hopping to f5. Black's main idea is to play ...d6, ...Na5, ...c5 and queenside expansion. The whole struggle is about which side opens lines first.

If you only learn one e4 opening as White, the Spanish gives you the deepest understanding of classical chess. The drills below cover the closed main line and the Exchange.