Ruy López — Open Variation
C80 · Played as black · Advanced · Ruy López
Grab the e4-pawn and take the Spanish somewhere White can't grind you
The main line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7
Strategic ideas
- Take on e4 instead of allowing the slow Closed Spanish squeeze
- Hold the outpost knight on e4 with …d5 and …Be6, backed by the queenside pawns
- Accept a slightly loose structure for real piece freedom and open diagonals
- Look for …d4 or …f6 breaks to dissolve White's e5-pawn at the right moment
- Keep the c8-bishop active on e6 — in the Closed Spanish it can sit passive for twenty moves
Key themes
- Dynamic — Black's pieces get out fast at the cost of a slightly airy structure — a trade the Closed Spanish never offers
- Piece Activity — The e4-knight, e6-bishop and open lines give Black something to do from the start
- Counterattack — Instead of defending the Closed Spanish for forty moves, Black takes material and makes White prove it
Typical plans
Black snatches e4 rather than enduring the famously slow Closed Spanish, where White manoeuvres for ages and Black defends. The knight on e4 is the whole story: Black props it up with …d5 and …Be6, White tries to undermine it with c3, Nbd2 and Re1. The resulting positions are sharp and concrete, and White's e5-pawn is both a space-gainer and a long-term target. Korchnoi played this for decades against everyone — it's a genuine main line, not an attempt at a swindle.
Move by move
- e4 — White claims the centre.
- e5 — Black meets it symmetrically.
- Nf3 — White develops, attacking e5.
- Nc6 — Black defends the pawn.
- Bb5 — White plays the Spanish, pressuring the defender of e5.
- a6 — Black asks the question, gaining time on the queenside.
- Ba4 — White retreats, keeping the bishop's eye on the a2–g8 diagonal.
- Nf6 — Black develops and hits e4.
- O-O — White castles, offering the e4-pawn.
- Nxe4 — Black takes it. Declining leads to the Closed Spanish and a long strategic squeeze; this is the Open, and the game changes character immediately.
- d4 — White strikes the centre — the point is that the e4-knight is loose and Black's king is still in the middle.
- b5 — Black gains time on the bishop before White gets to hit the knight.
- Bb3 — White retreats to b3, still eyeing f7.
- d5 — Black props up the knight with the pawn, the move that makes the whole variation work.
- dxe5 — White pushes past, gaining space and clearing the way to attack the e4-knight.
- Be6 — Black develops, defending d5 and supporting the knight from behind.
- c3 — White prepares Nbd2 to hit the e4-knight and gives the bishop the c2 retreat.
- Be7 — Black develops and prepares to castle. The knight on e4 sits deep in White's half — Black's game rests entirely on keeping it there.