Strategy_Rules wrote on 09/03/07 at 11:27:11:
Hi !
I think about including the open variation of the ruy lopez (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.exd5 Be6) in my repertoire for black, because it seems to be easy to get completly equal postions there with some theoretical knowlegde.
Well, right or wrong, thats my opinion so far.
Do you know any line (after 8...Be6) where you think white has an advantage
My understanding is that 9. Be3 Nc5 10. Nc3 is something of a problem these days. Also 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 d4 11. Bxe6 Nxe6 12. cxd4 Ncxd4 13. a4 is giving Black some trouble -- there was an article in a recent NIC Yearbook to that effect, anyway.
I played the Open for a long time, with good success, and I have an extensive set of notes on it. While I like it for its aggressiveness and piece activity, I disagree that it's easy to equalize with it if White as well as Black has good theoretical knowledge. Maybe "equalize" if you mean, "obtain a position where Black can probably draw." But I do think that it's a good practical choice, since if White isn't up on his theory, it's fairly easy for him to lose. He can lose against the active pieces; he can also lose against the queenside pawn majority.
One thing you should be aware of if you're looking at 9. c3 Be7 is that the hallowed Breslau Variation, 10. Re1 0-0 11. Nd4 Nxe5, is no longer considered sound. The e-book available here suggests instead 11...Qe8 which appears to be OK.
Some of the more difficult lines to play are those where there has been an exchange on d4 with cxd4 recapture. Often in the theory, Black's activity is supposed to be enough to hold the balance in these positions. But having backward c-pawn on the open c-file is almost like being a pawn down, it seems to me, so it's important to keep your activity going.
Besides his queenside pawn weaknesses, Black has to be very wary of being attacked on the kingside. This is especially true after ...Nc5 or ...Nxd2. White has the pawn on e5; a kingside pawn majority; and pieces well directed to that sector.