Markovich wrote on 06/11/12 at 22:38:04:

It sure is. It's less than a year old.

I have been spending quite a bit of time with this book lately, and I have to say I'm really enjoying it.

I have been wrestling with the Lopez for a number of years, not entirely successfully, but I find it very interesting. Sometimes I try the main lines, and sometimes I retreat and play the Slopez (Qe2 Worrall or 5. d3 vs everything). 

What I like about this book it is the great verbal explanations. I'm looking at the notes on pages 81-82 in a mainline Chigorin game where Neil McDonald first gives a depressingly long list of all the things in the position that favour black, then goes on to explain why white is still a bit better, and then explains Topolov's plan.  I can fish games out of a database, or flick on an engine, but it's this sort of explanation that I'm wanting from a book, especially from an opening so rich in plans and nuances.

The book is essentially an ambitious repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez, which covers early d3 plans to get you on board, and the full blown mainlines, including taking on the Berlin endgame and the Marshall gambit. For the latter, after pointing out the issues White has in winning the resulting pawn up endgames, he also gives the h3 anti-marshall as another option. That's what I've used myself after seeing it in Opening for White According to Anand. 

Anyway, much still for me to peruse in the book, but so far I rate it 

                     

After browsing through it some more I should probably retract the "complete repertoire" bit. It does have some variations but if you rush home after your tournament game looking for what you should have played on move 14 you'll probably be disappointed. He does provide relatively detailed advice against almost every Black system, but it's largely more about ideas than moves.

Still, I've already learned stuff about the Zaitsev that I had never internalized from the entire Johnsen & Johannessen book, and even (for example) his general discussion of Black's b5 and e5 pawns in the introduction (available on the Everyman website) is really illuminating.

I received this today and after a 15-minute skim it looks just as good as I had hoped. It 's a complete repertoire for White in the Spanish (actually two repertoires - he starts with a whole chapter on d3 systems to ease players into it), including all the early main sidelines like the Jaenisch and Bird. The emphasis is on ideas rather than diving down every subvariation, so above 1800 you'd probably want to supplement it with a more complete reference. The writing seems extremely clear and instructive, as I am used to from McDonald.

Everymanchess is going to publish a book on the Ruy Lopez:

http://www.everymanchess.com/chess/books/The_Ruy_Lopez%3A_Move_by_Move ;

What do you think about this book?