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Hi everybody,
Little by little I have managed to investigate many lines in the Ruy Lopez this last year or so, although I still have to analyse the Open (5...Nxe4) more thoroughly, and in the Closed lines I also need to have a closer look at both the Breyer and the Chigorin, but this will be done later.

This means that I can now mainly concentrate on the other lines, starting here with important recent games from the last few months. I hope that this will please all those subscribers who don't play the Ruy! For this work I will return to the 'classic' ChessPublishing style of presentation. Olivier


Download PGN of April '06 1 e4 e5 games


Philidor Defence

In this blindfold game Ivanchuk - Aronian, Aronian chose a system rarely employed at the top level but quite tricky (Antoshin's Variation according to Tony Kosten's old book on the Philidor):

This gives us a good occasion to investigate it again.


Scotch Game

In the Scotch with 4...Bc5 5 Nxc6 the fantastic 7...Bd4 from Tkachiev has replaced all the other moves:

Here, in Houska - Qin Kanying, it strikes again and the young Chinese girl springs a good novelty with 11...0-0 to won a convincing technical game.

Sveshnikov - Krustalns demonstrates a good Black plan for those who have problems against 5 Nb3 in the Scotch with ...Bc5:

Wang Hao- Harikrishna is an important game from last year.

This the position after the move 12...Bh3!! which completely refutes the 4...Bc5 5 Be3 Qf6 6 Nb5 line in the Scotch. A very nice concept and a game you should know.


Four Knights

Vallejo Pons- Dominguez features a very interesting idea from Dominguez who came up with a strong novelty on move 9 with long castles in the Rubinstein Variation of the 4 Knights:

Unfortunately this leads to a forced draw after a cascade of sacrifices!


Two Knights

The line of the Italian with 10...Bd6 is a good idea for those who want to keep winning chances with Black:

It was recommended by my predecessor, Nigel Davies, both in his book, and also here. For those who didn't notice this, here is Mogranzini - Godena, featuring excellent technique from Black.

Kriventsov - Becerra Rivero features the unusual move 10...Qd4:

In this game Black sacks two pawns and obtains good positional compensation. A good idea to change your opinion of the Two Knights Defence!


Ruy Lopez/Spanish

I decided to look at the game Reeh - Levin because I was looking for a good answer to the Ruy with 5 d3:

I think that this game will provide the keys to success for Black in this line.

This extremely tense position comes from one of the critical line of the Open Spanish:

Sandipan - Shabalov shows the correct path for White to keep the initiative.


I hope you enjoy seeing all these treasures!

Olivier Renet


Please post your Kingpawn Opening queries on the 1 e4 e5 Forum, or subscribers can write to me at Olivier@chesspublishing.com if you have any questions.