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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Main Lines of the Spanish (Read 29505 times)
TonyRo
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #42 - 03/16/10 at 19:52:53
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Sokolov's book has gotten pretty good reviews from quite a few people, so I'd go ahead and get it. I feel like a GM as strong as Sokolov could give you good stuff to chew on about nearly any topic in chess. Grin
  
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Fromper
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #41 - 03/16/10 at 19:19:48
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I'm really surprised by all the people saying that they never see the main line Ruy. I play the Chigorin as black, rated only 1700's USCF, and I get as far as 12+ moves of book theory against opponents rated below 2000 fairly often. That's pretty much the only opening where I ever stay in book more than 7 or 8 moves. 

Of course, then we reach positions where neither of us have any clue how to play the position. I'm focused on tactics and endgames right now, so I don't really want to take the time to learn the positional play necessary for this right now, which is why I'm looking for a sideline to play against the Ruy instead. 

Speaking of which, anyone have a response to my question in the thread about Sokolov's book? Would that be worth getting for me, just to learn something new to play based on reading one or two chapters, instead of having to study whole books on the main line?
  

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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #40 - 01/27/10 at 20:25:46
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You could probably do a lot worse than to follow up the King book with the Ruy chapter of Vlastimil Jansa's "Dynamics of Chess Strategy."
  
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dfan
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #39 - 01/27/10 at 19:55:48
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All those Mastering the ___ books are outstanding.  A real shame they're out of print.
  
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ChessMonkey
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #38 - 01/27/10 at 18:43:16
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Markovich,

Your post and some of the replies inspired me to give up my recent foray into the Scotch Game (having never played it in nearly 4 decades of playing the game and finding it a bit weird to play (see related post in this Forum) and to broadening my understanding of the closed Ruy.  To that end, I purchased from a used book seller Daniel King's Mastering the Spanish with the Read and Play Method (somewhat outdated, but the ideas aren't) in which he divides the Ruy up by pawn structure, rather than by variation.  I've read the first 40 or pages of the book and the ideas are clearly and thoroughly presented.  I also like the approach (a novel one, it seems).  I'll supplement it with the stuff available on ChessPub as well the ChessBase database. 
  
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MNb
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #37 - 01/17/10 at 19:47:14
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BobbyDigital80 wrote on 01/17/10 at 02:08:31:
What's the status of this line? 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.
c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6

I might like to play that for black. Does anyone here play it?

Van Delft (see above) recommends 14.Nb3 for White, intending to improve on a game he drew against Timoscenko, Vienna 2003: 25.Rxf6 iso 25.Bc5.
  

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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #36 - 01/17/10 at 16:56:05
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I prefer 13..Bd7 or 12..Bd7 13.Nf1 cxd4 14.cxd4  when play usually continues 14.. Rac8 15.Ne3 Nc6 16.d5 Nb4 17.Bb1 a5 18.a3 Na6 19.b4.  White may be slightly better here, but Black has a solid position with chances for active play.   

  
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ANDREW BRETT
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #35 - 01/17/10 at 09:58:19
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I saw a recent game Sutovsky v Hess at the World Team Tournament in this line. 
Black is marginally worse but I think also Adams held against Kramnik a few years ago. 
It's a bit passive for Black but perhaps not as combative as 13..bb7 or 13..rd8 and not as popular as 12...nc6 following Marin's excellent book.
  
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #34 - 01/17/10 at 04:12:23
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BobbyDigital80 wrote on 01/17/10 at 02:08:31:
What's the status of this line? 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.
c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6

I might like to play that for black. Does anyone here play it?


I would think that its status is probably about the same as it has "always" been (quite playable, probably "+=" with best play).  There was a pretty interesting-looking article on it in the Yearbook a few volumes ago.
  
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BobbyDigital80
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #33 - 01/17/10 at 02:08:31
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What's the status of this line? 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.
c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6

I might like to play that for black. Does anyone here play it?
  
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MNb
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #32 - 01/09/10 at 01:14:00
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He made that announcement more than a year ago, so I am afraid nothing is coming from it. So if you have some detailed question, go ahead. I will look it up for you.
  

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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #31 - 01/08/10 at 22:29:46
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MNb wrote on 01/08/10 at 21:36:31:
Play the main lines of 1.e4 as White in 29 volumes of about 4, 5 pages. Though there are some weak spots it should anyone get started. If you want to ask himself:

witrepertoire@hotmail.com

though I am not sure if it is still valid.

Nice. Maybe Merijn is going to make a book from it.
  

If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #30 - 01/08/10 at 21:50:37
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I have posted a number of threads about mainline, closed Spanish variations (Breyer, Gajewski, and others), but they rarely receive much attention.  I think the explanation for that has been touched on by others.  Playing correspondence chess, though, I have had to face alternatives to the Ruy Lopez a mere handful of times.  The overwhelming majority of my games have followed the mainline repertoires...
  

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MNb
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #29 - 01/08/10 at 21:36:31
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Play the main lines of 1.e4 as White in 29 volumes of about 4, 5 pages. Though there are some weak spots it should anyone get started. If you want to ask himself:

witrepertoire@hotmail.com

though I am not sure if it is still valid.
  

The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged.
GC Lichtenberg
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Willempie
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Re: Main Lines of the Spanish
Reply #28 - 01/08/10 at 21:27:31
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MNb wrote on 01/08/10 at 20:25:11:
Willempie wrote on 01/08/10 at 16:30:33:
Not to mention that when you reach move 9 of the closed the plan is far easier (and familiar) than at any point in the 4knights at move 9 [quote]
I would say that any chance for an advantage in the 4Knights is gone as early on move 3, but OK. White's plans in the 4Knights 4...Bb4 are so simple even I understand them (play through a couple of game by Spielmann...) which I can't say of every line of the Closed Ruy Lopez.
[quote]
Well if you are a little familiar with the closed it is also very easy to find a plan. The only difficulty there is is when you face a better opponent, who knows his counterplay. Then again that is true with any opening and I'd rather face him with the Ruy than with the 4knights for that reason (and that in the Ruy my position will be better than with the 4kn, but that is not in question).
 
More important, you conveniently neglect what I mentioned before - the Marshall Gambit. No matter if White accepts or avoids it, more accuratesse is demanded than in any line of the Ruy Lopez. One mistake and White gets mated (accepted) or Black takes over the initiative.

Personally I find the open harder to play, but then again I just avoid the Marshall with h3, following my reasoning given earlier.
Quote:

To keep things clear: I don't argue against playing 3.Bb5 - such a good move. I only think your logic is wrong and recommend looking at stuff like Van Delft's series in late Schaaknieuws.

Oh I didnt think you were arguing against it Wink
I am not familiar with it (not being a subscriber), is it some repertoire he writes about? Might be interesting as I am still looking for some reference book on 1. e4 ..not e5/c5/c5/e6.
  

If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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