The Modernized Ruy Lopez (vol. 1)

When I decided to write a book about the Ruy Lopez, covering an entire repertoire for White, I didn't realize at first how much work I had ahead of me. I've played Ruy Lopez for many years in both colors and I think I have a good knowledge of this opening. I thought that armed with my knowledge I could easily write a book about it. Nothing could be further from the truth! While I was writing this book, I discovered that the amount of resources and lines the Negro has here is staggering. To provide very good material that would satisfy not only the reader but also myself, I decided to cover the entire opening in two volumes.

The first volume includes three pieces. The first part deals with alternatives of black to modern main lines. Although they are not as frequent as the lines I cover in later chapters or volumes, I think it is also good to know what to do in the less popular variations. After all, why would we study only (say) the Berlin Defence, leaving our opponents able to surprise us with the sharp Schliemann Variation? From a practical point of view, such a line would be very difficult to face above the board both from the chess perspective and from the psychological perspective. Therefore, a basic knowledge of lateral lines is important.

The second part is devoted to the extremely strong Berlin Defence. The amount of theory in this opening has grown exponentially in recent years, since basically all the top players bet on it with at least one color. I'll try to shed some light on this complex line and try to show different ways in which white can try to take advantage of the opening.

Finally, in the third part I talk about the Ruy Lopez open. As in Berlin, the theory has developed enormously here in recent years. I'll try to show some interesting lines and ideas that challenge this openness.

I'd like to point out something. Chess is a game in which, with a perfect game, black should always be able to match. However, the equality of positions does not mean that the game should end in a draw. In many lines (especially the Berlinese), the positions are simply equal if Black does everything correctly. There's no way around it. However, my goal is to show lines that could possibly create practical problems for your opponents. Very often, objective evaluation doesn't matter if a player knows what he's doing and his opponent doesn't. Having a clear idea of the plans and where to put the pieces, as well as a general "feeling" for the job, is much better than knowing that an engine shows 0.23 and having no idea what to do next. And this is the main objective of this book: to provide the reader with several ideas on the Ruy Lopez that could be used for the benefit of the reader in practical games. This would increase the chances of opponents making mistakes (taking them out of their comfort zone) and therefore also their chances of winning.