A number of times I've indicated that White tends to gain an advantage in space in the Ruy Lopez. As always, opening study should be connected to the study of general chess themes. This is an extremely effecient way to improve our overall understanding of the game.

Let's make an in-depth introduction of the space advantage using the following common structure which can arise form the Ruy Lopez:

I should note that the properties of the structure would be essentially the same if Black had not yet played ...d6 - though this would tend to be an improvement for Black.

It's easy to see how this formation might occur. White has played a rapid d2-d4 (without first supporting it with c2-c3) and Black has responded with ...exd4 rapidly. Understanding this structure is critical for many reasons.

But before we connect it to any of our other learning goals, I'm going to take a moment to explain exactly what a space advantage is and how it functions in great detail. Beginners will benefits most of all from this analysis but if you think this is just for beginners, you're absolutely crazy. Taking a very basic look at some of the concepts we take for granted is always an extremely (perhaps necessary!) exercise. I engage in this kind of thinking all the time, even during battles with players of the highest standard.

Strictly speaking, a space advantage simply refers to the posession of more squares than our opponent. There are a few ways you can measure this. Before I introduce the more effecient ways I'm going to start with the simplest and most accurate so there's no question what a space advantage is. How do we do it? We simply count and compare the number of squares each side has under threat.

The first diagram is a position which contains our structure we're analyzing right now. In the second diagram I've merely circled all the squares which are under attack by a White piece. I simply went for square for square across the chessboard and asked "does a White piece attack this square?". If the answer was yes, I "counted" it. In this example White's pieces attack 41 squares. In the third diagram I underwent the same procedure for Black. Here the Black pieces attack only 32 squares. Thus we can conclude that White has an advantage in territory. We'll discuss how this information helps us in a moment, but for now we've identified one no-fail way of establishing who has control over more territory, or space. 

That was a little time consuming, but completely easy and also very instructive. If white's pieces have access to nine more squares than Black's, the implications are endless. His pieces have more squares on which to maneuver, and they bring a greater portion of the opponent's position under threat thereby minimizing his options.

Next, we'll look at shorcuts to help us assess who has a space advantage more quickly, and continue to explore what these means in terms of our strategy.

One of the reasons study of the chess openings is so popular is the simple fact that learning openings is as fun as it is educational. When you study the openings (especially classical ones) you gain ever-expanding insight into the key elements of the chess struggle. Principles and platitudes like “establish a pawn center”, “develop your knights before bishops”, and so on, acquire new meaning when you get an opportunity to see the principles in action hundreds of times and the concrete variations which support them. Additionally, the study of opening theory leads to many interesting twists and turns filled with fascinating tactics.

One of my favorite openings to study is the Ruy Lopez. This is a very important opening and has been for hundreds of years. A thorough study of this opening is extremely fun and can also be very rewarding both for one’s results in the openings and for one’s understanding of chess in general.

Today I want to introduce an interesting game in one line of the Ruy Lopez to demonstrate some general ideas. At the same time I want to expose you to the method I use to learn openings (and chess!).

Alexei Shirov – Ivan Sokolov Las Vegas 1999 rapid

The following game was played at the time control g/25 + 10. Both players had 25 minutes on the clock and also gained 10 seconds after making each move. Surprisingly, rapid and blitz games between strong players can be amazingly instructive and interesting since one often sees mistakes and punishments which wouldn’t arise in the longer time controls between such skilled players.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

These are the beginning moves of the Ruy Lopez. On our excellent sister site http://chessopenings.com/ I covered the basic ideas behind the Ruy Lopez. You can view a slideshow here: http://chessopenings.com/ruy+lopez/

For our purposes here it’s enough to note that White develops his pieces rapidly while sooner or later creating a threat to capture on e5. Sooner or later, Black will have to play …d6 to cover the pawn. In the meantime, White will expand in the center with c2-c3, d2-d4 yielding him an advantage in space.

In classical openings where Black attempts to take an equal share of the center (1.e4 e5 or 1.d4 d5) it is extremely common for White to seek an advantage by putting pressure on Black’s center pawn forcing Black to make concessions in defending it.

3…Bc5

This is not the most common reaction since it will ensure that when White plays d2-d4, White will gain a tempo against the bishop. On the other hand, Black has the benefit of developing his bishop to c5 before he plays …d6.

4.O-O

Only after castling does White’s threat to the e5-pawn become real. Suppose White immediately tries to gain the e5 pawn with 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5?

There are two moves which allow Black to recover his pawn. You ought to see the methods of recovering the pawn right away since you’ve been working with KEBU Chess Tactics Software! I’ve put the solution at the end of this short article. Be sure to find both solutions and then also to determine which you think leads to a more advantageous situation for Black.

4…d6

Now that White has castled, Black defends the e5-pawn. This isn’t necessarily the only move, but it’s the most natural. So what position has arisen?

The stage is now set for the ensuing strategic battle. White will clearly want to play for d2-d4 at some point. It’s easy to dismiss such a position and not recognize just how much one can learn about chess just by delving into the theory and practice of such a simple position.

As soon as White plays d2-d4 he is guaranteed a space advantage. There are many possible ways for play to continue after that. Black may choose to simply retreat his bishop to b6 and leave the White pawn on d4. In this case he must always contend with the possibility of dxe5 or d4-d5. On the other hand if he captures on d4, he either grants White a 2-1 majority of the center (if White plays c2-c3xd4) or an advanced knight with threats on a partially open board (after Nf3xd4). The whole theory and practice of this opening will give us insight into these possibilities and at the same time give us a general understanding of the challenges faced by Black when he is behind in space. Thus, in studying the theory and practice of this opening we study more general chess problems. This is extremely instructive, and also exciting! If we study openings intelligently we learn to connect theory with the study of general chess problems.

I also want to point out that we’re getting insight into another sort of chess problem in studying this opening variation. In the classical Ruy Lopez structure Black usually develops his bishop to e7 behind the pawn chain. It’s true that on c5 the bishop is more active, but as I pointed out this comes with certain drawbacks including the bishop’s exposure to attack. Thus we are also going to get a lot of insight into the advantages and drawbacks of developing one’s bishop outside of a closed pawn chain.

I can’t wait to get started. The next article will look at how Shirov and Sokolov treated the problems of this position. But before we move on, let’s answer the little puzzle provided earlier.

Congratulations if you saw either or both of the solutions: 5…Qd4! 6.Nd3 Qxe4+ or 5…Bxf2+!? 6.Kxf2 Qd4+.Did you remember to consider which you think is more advantageous for Black? Despite the flashiness of 5…Bxf2+ the strongest option is actually 5…Qd4! In that case White ends up with an awkwardly placed knight on d3 and Black retains the advantage of the bishop pair.

KEBU Opening Memorizer is quickly becoming the preferred method of doing the otherwise tedious work of memorizing your opening variations. I’ve created this article to take you step-by-step through the process of creating files to memorize and then using the software to seal the variations into your memory.

KEBU Opening Memorizer is a fantastic training software program for efficiently memorizing your openings. The first step to using the program is to create a PGN file with the opening variations you wish to memorize. Developing the file is relatively easy and can be done with a number of software programs. If you don’t own any software to create PGN files ChessBase Lite is a great place to start. It can be downloaded for free. There are countless other software programs that will assist you in creating PGN files. For the purposes of example I’ve used ChessBase 11.

Let us say that I wish to develop a repertoire against the move 1.e4. Through some research I’ve learned that the “French Defense” (beginning with 1…e6) is a relatively easy opening to learn and play, and I like the ideas – it seems to suit my style. I’ve read a book on the opening, but I want to remember the key variations so that I won’t be “caught out” in the opening.

Since White has a few different ways to respond to the French Defense, I’ll probably need to focus on one important response at a time as I learn the opening. White’s most popular reply is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 so I’ll start there – my first file will deal exclusively with how I plan to react against 3.Nc3.

Now using any of my materials: databases, chess engines, books, opening manuals – I develop a file which contains the most important ideas for my opponent and how I plan to respond to them. Here’s a screenshot:

(Don’t worry – I’ve attached a link where you can download this sample file right away!)

For each important option I found for White (using the database) I attached some line I’d like to learn for Black. Importantly, there’s no situation where I gave multiple ideas for Black  - the file just has all of the ideas I want to learn to play against, and then one single method of how to reply as Black.

Now I save the game as a PGN file (be careful not to save it in ChessBase format!).

Notice that I’m saving it as a PGN file! Click here to download the PGN file and take a look for yourself what I created.

Notice that I kept the file very simple. I think this is an important secret which I’ve written more about throughout this blog. You don’t need to make your files very complicated, you just want to be very confident about a smaller number of lines which, as a rule, don’t go too deep. Try it – and you’ll find that you’ll win a lot more games knowing a lot of basic lines as opposed to a few overly complicated lines.

Now there’s just one more step: getting these lines sealed in your memory! And here’s where KEBU Opening Memorizer comes in.

If you haven’t already done so please take a look at the following short video which in fact is a great introduction to how to memorize your files.

Best of luck with the openings software! We hope you find it to be truly enjoyable – but most importantly – we want you to win more games of chess!

Before you go, here are some great general articles that you might also want to take a look at on opening study and chess improvement:

Studying your openings

Should you commit opening lines to memory (part I)

Memorizing opening variations (part II)

How to select your chess openings