Agreed. My memory played me a trick - a while ago I had analysed 8.Bg5 against the Riga, and that was a draw. The Riga ending 8.Nxd4 is not so easy.

Michael Ayton wrote on 06/23/10 at 14:40:29:

Indeed? He played 3...f6, but 3...Ke7 would be a bit extreme even for Steinitz. 

I like the Spanish. It is a very rich structure, which makes it hard to write about it. Because there are so many possibilities, it is so popular with strong players, incl. World Champions. 20 possible replies, similar numbers fors both sides in the next moves: its theory is larger than the King's Gambit's. I don't believe that the RL is "stronger" than other systems. Difficult to handle, yes, because of the sheer mass of options. But if you study one of the sharper lines, the forced draws come like the flies. Chess is a draw, 3.Bb5 Bc5 is =, the Riga Variation is =, the Marshall is =, and several others. 

The original poster is a learned 1.d4/c4 player and thinks about testing 1.e4. Most systems listed in the poll are great weapons. In some systems it may seem (if you look in the "Euwe", which would still be a good starting point) that Black has it easier to achieve equality. But look at Bent Larsen's games with the Vienna, commented in his game collection. You can find new positional ideas everywhere, and much of the old theory is built on tactical errors, ask your PC. 

2.Ne2 comes into consideration. It avoids the Petrov, in about 50% of the cases you'll get 2...Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4, the Scotch. If Black ducks into a kind of Philidor, you'll have a very sound Saemisch KI type position, with f3 (maybe c4, maybe not).

I think there is a certain amount of truth behind Stefan's original post- Black certainly has more viable responses to 3.Bb5 (in the sense of not leading to +/- with accurate play) than to 3.Bc4 or 3.d4.

Maybe not an issue for the GMs, but certainly an issue at club level where most players will duck out of the main lines.

3...Ke7 seems new. 

rukh wrote on 06/22/10 at 15:11:40:

Yes and with accurate play within 15 moves; perhaps in the Scotch/Mieses within 20. In the Ruy Lopez it lasts longer. See also JediKnight. The price, as FM Bücker has pointed out, is a lot of theory to study.
This doesn't mean that I recommend against others though; it depends on what you expect.
But I dare to maintain, if you enjoy old fashioned attacking play, you should try 1.d4 and 2.c4.

You mean 3...Kte7 ? Yes. Even two of those.

Markovich wrote on 06/23/10 at 01:17:26:

In Die hypermoderne Schachpartie (Vienna 1925) Savielly Tartakower studies seven replies in move three to the Spanish, in the "Nachträge" he adds further nine lesser 3...moves ("als ganz apart gelten..."), without analysis. But he forgets 3...a5, 3...d5 and 3...Bd6. Okay, that makes a total of only 19 options for Black. How about 3...Rb8?

Stefan Buecker wrote on 06/22/10 at 18:21:34:


This,  I feel safe in saying, is the minority report.