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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation) (Read 61106 times)
ChessMonkey
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #22 - 02/11/11 at 14:35:57
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I like the Panczyk & Ilzcuk book (I don't have Kinderman, but his book on the Leningrad Dutch is quite good), but if you are looking for lots of prose explaining the ideas and concepts, you'll be disappointed since there is very little explanation, aside from their summations of the lines at the end of each chapter.  Their coverage is quite thorough, however.  I see that Andrew Martin has a DVD on the Exchange, but I don't have it and haven't seen any reviews of it yet.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #21 - 02/11/11 at 09:14:22
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Hansen prefered Panczyk & Ilzcuk to Kindermann: http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen78.pdf
  

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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #20 - 02/11/11 at 08:46:00
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Carld wrote on 02/10/11 at 03:08:55:
Does anyone know how Panczyk's book compares with Andrew Kinsman's Spanish Exchange? I have Kinsman's book already and have Panczyk's ordered, but I was wondering if once was noticeably better than the other.


Kindermann's is worthy.

http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1109832373/4
  
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Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #19 - 02/11/11 at 05:55:45
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There's also Ivanchuk's new idea 5...f6 6.d4 Bg4 7.c3 Qe7!?, which he used to defeat Caruana with the black pieces in Gibraltar.
  

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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #18 - 02/10/11 at 03:08:55
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Does anyone know how Panczyk's book compares with Andrew Kinsman's Spanish Exchange? I have Kinsman's book already and have Panczyk's ordered, but I was wondering if once was noticeably better than the other.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #17 - 02/08/11 at 14:57:06
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If one wants to have some offbeat idea in the exchange variation then you really have to try out :
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 Bd6 (At this point most white players are already out of book. Only players whom specifically prepared for me as opponent, know the next most critical move.) 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qf3 h5 with an extremely complicated battle ahead. I've played already 6 official games with this position, scoring a decent 2,5/6 (including 3 draws against FMs). Until today I've not seen any clear refutation of the system.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #16 - 02/08/11 at 12:13:31
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I think the old line was 7...f6 and now they are going 7...Qh4 followed by 8...f6 or 8...Bd6. Not sure which is best. Anyhow its the move 7...Qh4 which caused a mini-revival. I think even Magnus Carlsen gave this line a bash so its not a complete junk line. Theoretically maybe the compensation is not completely sufficient but there are practical and psychological problems for players of White used to the easy life.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #15 - 02/07/11 at 15:14:56
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Keano wrote on 02/04/11 at 09:17:44:
If Black is really looking to liven things up he could do worse than 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5!?

Theoretically Whites best now is to take the pawn 6.g4 Bg6 7.Nxe5 but after 7....Qh4 followed by ...f6 I think Black is getting a complicated game. Theoretically the compensation might not be sufficient but it leads to the type of game many Spanish Exchange fans will not enjoy.


That is interesting. I always thought that 7. ... Bd6 gave Black sufficient compensation.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #14 - 02/04/11 at 09:17:44
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If Black is really looking to liven things up he could do worse than 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5!?

Theoretically Whites best now is to take the pawn 6.g4 Bg6 7.Nxe5 but after 7....Qh4 followed by ...f6 I think Black is getting a complicated game. Theoretically the compensation might not be sufficient but it leads to the type of game many Spanish Exchange fans will not enjoy.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #13 - 02/03/11 at 15:44:36
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SWJediknight wrote on 02/03/11 at 13:46:50:
(White has the bishop pair in return for doubled pawns in front of the king)

How is that possible after 4.Bxc6 ? I think you mean White has slight central domination.
Anyhow, if Black wants something ultrasharp, there is 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Bd6 8.Nbd2 Be6 with the idea of a pawn storm. It's very tricky though, as I know from my own experience.
  

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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #12 - 02/03/11 at 13:46:50
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I must admit to not being particularly "booked up" on that line, but Gary Lane gives 8...Bxf3 9 Qxf3 Qxf3 10 gxf3 Bd6 11 Nd2 Ne7 as equal (White has the bishop pair in return for doubled pawns in front of the king) while Black can also consider 8...Nge7 and 9...Ng6.  White's main alternative is 8.Nbd2 preventing the doubling of the kingside pawns when Black usually goes for ...Nge7-g6.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #11 - 02/03/11 at 13:21:46
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Thanks for this.

I've been playing the f6 variation for years and years and have only recently become interested in the Neo-Steinitz.

I'm, not an expert, but isn't white slightly better in this line after 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Qf6 8.Be3?

  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #10 - 02/03/11 at 12:48:15
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NeverGiveUp wrote on 02/02/11 at 12:02:50:
In fact black does not have an easy life after 5.0-0(!) (Fisher, Timman) and must know very well what he's doing.

I've been playing the exchange RL for years with black now and have a solid system against it that has been played by Spassky and Kortschnoi.
...        

I would've thought that since you like the sharp line 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5, meeting 4.Bxc6 with 4...dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 would be more consistent- it's a more definitely sound version of the same idea and as far as I'm aware White is struggling to prove anything significant against it.
  
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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #9 - 02/02/11 at 12:15:52
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NeverGiveUp wrote on 02/02/11 at 12:02:50:
In fact black does not have an easy life after 5.0-0(!) (Fisher, Timman) and must know very well what he's doing.


This applies to just about any opening variation. If you aren't familiar with a variation then naturally you will not play as well when it appears on the board, compared to a variation you are familiar with. Fortunately, Black has more than one good answer to the Exchange.

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I've been playing the exchange RL for years with black now and have a solid system against it that has been played by Spassky and Kortschnoi. It's 5. ... f6 6.d4 ed4: 7.Nd4: c5 8.Nb3 Qd1: 9.Rd1: Bg4 10.f3 Be6, with the neat point 11.Bf4 c4! 12.Nd4 0-0-0 and white can't take on e6 because the knight is pinned. After 13.Nc3 the bishop goes to f7 and black is doing fine. Another point is 12.Na5 Bc5+ (hence Bg4 first to provoke f3) 13.Kf1 Bb6 with equality.


This is the most popular reply to 5.0-0 so it isn't surprising that Black equalises in this variation. Personally I quite like 5...Bg4 and 5...Be7. The latter was recommended in 'Dangerous Weapons' and White has been struggling to show anything for some time.
   
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Fashionable nowadays is the retreat 8.Ne2!? where black is OK if he knows what to do and should play 8. ... Bd7 9.Nbc3 0-0-0, and  go for the setup Re8, Bc6, b6 followed by Ng8-e7-g6-e5 and Bd6. Spasski played this against Fisher in their Yugoslavia match.


I guess you meant to include the moves 8...Qd1 9.Rd1. Here's the Fischer-Spassky game:

[Event "St Stefan/Belgrade m"]
[Site "Belgrade"]
[Date "1992.??.??"]
[Round "27"]
[White "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Black "Spassky, Boris V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C69"]
[WhiteElo "2785"]
[BlackElo "2560"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "1992.09.??"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "30"]
[EventCountry "YUG"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1992.12.01"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8.
Ne2 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bd7 10. Nbc3 Ne7 11. Bf4 O-O-O 12. Rd2 Ng6 13. Bg3 Ne5 14.
Bxe5 fxe5 15. Rad1 c4 16. Kf1 Bc5 17. Ng1 Bg4 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Rxd8+ Kxd8 20.
Nce2 Ke7 21. Ke1 b5 22. c3 Kf6 23. h3 Bh5 24. Ng3 Bf7 25. Nf3 g6 26. Nf1 g5 27.
Ke2 Bg6 28. N3d2 h5 29. Ne3 c6 30. Kf3 Bf7 31. Ndf1 a5 32. Ke2 Be6 33. Ng3 Kg6
34. a3 Bf7 35. Ngf5 Be6 36. Kf3 Bd7 37. Kg3 Be6 38. h4 Bd7 39. hxg5 Kxg5 40.
Nh4 Bg4 41. Nxg4 hxg4 42. Nf5 a4 43. f3 gxf3 44. Kxf3 Bf8 45. Ne3 Kh5 46. Nf5
Bc5 1/2-1/2

The game is annotated in Mega Database by Ftacnik.

Quote:
The exchange variation is quite drawish I'm afraid. However if you're a good endgame player you might outplay your opponent, for instance by getting rid of the doubled pawns while retaining the bishop's pair. It is very important to stick to the bishops' pair in most variations, because otherwise white has the better pawn structure (kings side majority) and black has nothing to offset this. Sometimes black can let go of the bishop's pair if he has resolved his doubled pawns or has other compensation for his slightly weakened pawn structure like the more active pieces. 


I disagree. It's easier to win from an equal position than from a clearly inferior one, and the stronger player will almost always win. If your opponent draws in an equal endgame, then there's no reason to think that you would have undoubtedly beaten them in a sharper, more unbalanced position.

Additionally, if Black can create counterplay in the Exchange then his position tends to get better and better due to the increasing strength of the bishop pair as the position opens up. Lasker-Steinitz, Montreal 1894, Bragin-Frolov, Orel 1997 and Timman-Korchnoi, Leuwaarden 1976, are all good examples of this.

Of course, Black has several good options if he wishes to avoid an endgame directly out of the opening, including 5...Ne7, 5...Be7 and 5...Bd6 to name a few.


  

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Re: Understanding the Ruy Lopez (Exchange Variation)
Reply #8 - 02/02/11 at 12:02:50
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In fact black does not have an easy life after 5.0-0(!) (Fisher, Timman) and must know very well what he's doing.

I've been playing the exchange RL for years with black now and have a solid system against it that has been played by Spassky and Kortschnoi. It's 5. ... f6 6.d4 ed4: 7.Nd4: c5 8.Nb3 Qd1: 9.Rd1: Bg4 10.f3 Be6, with the neat point 11.Bf4 c4! 12.Nd4 0-0-0 and white can't take on e6 because the knight is pinned. After 13.Nc3 the bishop goes to f7 and black is doing fine. Another point is 12.Na5 Bc5+ (hence Bg4 first to provoke f3) 13.Kf1 Bb6 with equality.
   
Fashionable nowadays is the retreat 8.Ne2!? where black is OK if he knows what to do and should play 8. ... Bd7 9.Nbc3 0-0-0, and  go for the setup Re8, Bc6, b6 followed by Ng8-e7-g6-e5 and Bd6. Spasski played this against Fisher in their Yugoslavia match.

The exchange variation is quite drawish I'm afraid. However if you're a good endgame player you might outplay your opponent, for instance by getting rid of the doubled pawns while retaining the bishop's pair. It is very important to stick to the bishops' pair in most variations, because otherwise white has the better pawn structure (kings side majority) and black has nothing to offset this. Sometimes black can let go of the bishop's pair if he has resolved his doubled pawns or has other compensation for his slightly weakened pawn structure like the more active pieces.
  
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