Ruy Lopez

In the Ruy Lopez, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, White attacks the knight that defends e5. The threat is not immediate, because after Bxc6 and Nxe5 Black can usually win the pawn back, so the Ruy Lopez is a long positional fight. Black's main answers are 3...a6, 3...Nf6 (the Berlin), and sharper tries like 3...Bc5 and the Schliemann 3...f5.

Most of the mistakes in our data are about the e5 pawn: taking it when it is defended, or defending it when it is not attacked. In the Exchange Variation, 3...a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6, the queen on d8 suddenly looks down the d-file. After 5.c3 Qd3, the capture 6.Nxe5?? walks into 6...Qxe4+, a check that also attacks the knight on e5. After 5.Nc3 f6 6.O-O Bb4, the sacrifice 7.Nxe5? does not work either: 7...fxe5 and White has only one pawn for the knight.

Black's typical mistake is the opposite: forgetting the pin on c6. After 3...Bb4 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3, the natural 5...d5? opens the centre, but the knight on c6 is pinned against the king and no longer defends e5: 6.Nxe5. In the line 3...Bc5 4.c3 Bb6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4, the same idea, 6...d5?, runs into 7.exd5, attacking the pinned knight on c6.

The Schliemann Gambit, 3...f5, produces its own trap. After 4.Qe2 fxe4, taking with 5.Nxe5? loses material to 5...Nxe5: the e4 pawn is not as weak as it looks.

The Ruy Lopez study covers the main lines and plans, and the Noah's Ark, Mortimer and Fishing Pole traps each have their own page. The puzzles below train the moment in every Ruy Lopez where e5 or the pinned knight on c6 becomes a target.