najdorfslayer wrote on 07/28/14 at 14:36:04:


It is very lethal at clublevel but when the white players know the opponet plays Jänish gambit, black often gets a bad position if white has done hes homework.

First time I met Jänish as white I lost terrible in Nc3 line agianst a opponet much heigher rated than me. After that game I made prepartions in d3 line and  when I met that player again I ended up in a much better posiiton. He dared to repeat the Jänish in some more games(blitz or rapid)  after that and he ended up even worse in each game and lost game after game.  Now he does not play Jänish against me anymore in standardtimes game but plays other Ruy Lopez lines. But in team matches hes still plays the Jänish and also against other club members who are not booked up.

play the nf6 Marshall it gives the best winning chances and is light on theory.

BobbyDigital80 wrote on 11/17/13 at 09:47:44:


I considered this exact set of potential lines (but I also dabbled with the idea of the Modern Steinitz and Cozio). Of the lot, I stuck with the Graf---it's sound, unbalancing, and less popular than the Breyer. The imbalance lasts right through to the endgame, so there's plenty of scope for outplaying lower rated players.

Overall, I'd stick with the closed, because it is easier to add in new lines to a closed Lopez repertoire. E.g. if you start with the Graf, you might add in the original Keres easily (12…cxd4 instead of Graf's 12…exd4), or the Gajewski lines (10…d5!?), and you land at these lines without having to learn any new sidelines. Plus, adding in other closed lines like the Breyer will also be much less work.

Mind you, this does mean that you have to deal with more white deviations. But learning to handle these effectively can only be good for one's game.

And don't forget Carlsen's knight manoeuvre 13 ...Nb8 and 14 ...Nbd7 from game 5! It shows how important it is to know about standard plans.

JonathanB wrote on 11/23/13 at 19:06:00:


Yes, Black has several different ways to play if he wants to avoid that draw. It's nice to know Black can accept the draw offer if he wants or play for a win.   

Don't forget the repetition draw White can go for with 5. d4 Nd6 6. de Nxb5 7. a4 ...

It isn't even that automatically drawish if white tries to play d5 before black does.

My favourite is the Berlin - as of yesterday this dethroned two world champions. However the drawish Re1 line is very likely to occur at the amateur level (more likely to occur than 5. Qe2 in the Petroff for example). So the Berlin should be paired with another opening for must-win occasions. On the bright side there isn't much to memorise. Lysyj and Cox books are fantastic.

Dont like Classical Berlin (4... Bc5) as much - never liked the lines where White puts the bishop on g5 and Black needs to break the pin with h6 and g5.  e.g. 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 d6 9. Qd3 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Na3 exd4 12. cxd4 f5 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. Qc4+ Kh8 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qxc6, Caruana-PH Nielsen 2009. This might be good for Black but I wouldn't trust my aging memory.