Descripción

The Modernized Open Ruy Lopez The positions arising from the Open Spanish contain ideas so

different from the usual Ruy Lopez that I sometimes wonder whether it should really be considered

part of it at all. It is an open game with unbalanced structures and sharp play but compared to the

Sicilian, for instance, for which the previous description would also apply, there is an important

difference; there is a certain degree of stability and solidity in the Open Spanish which distinguishes

it from the sharper realms of the Sicilian and puts this line in its own unique category of opening

ideas.

 

The Modernized Open Ruy Lopez

 

The popularity of this line increased significantly after the famous 1978 Karpov-Korchnoi match

where Korchnoi played it and demonstrated many interesting ideas. Still, the line never became fully

mainstream until quite recently when I no-ticed an increased level of attention towards it. It is a

practical line as it comes at a very early stage of the opening; White can’t avoid it once they have

committed to the Ruy Lopez. That is quite a large advantage of the Open Variation compared to

others. For example in the the Marshall Attack, another response to the Spanish about which I have

previously written a book, White has numerous ways to avoid the line entirely and so there is a whole

other branch of Anti-Marshall theory which Black must study too. Here this is not the case. While

writing this book I also noticed that many lines are simply underrated from Black’s perspective for no

clear reason. Black remains very solid and retains the possibility for counterchances. I am of the

opinion that this line simply awaits more analysis and attention and will inevitably become more

theoretically relevant in the future, perhaps after the catalyst of an elite player taking it up seriously,

similar to Korchnoi in the past.

Modernized-Open-RL