Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...f5/4. Nc3/4...fxe4/5. Nxe4/5...d5/6. Nxe5/6...dxe4/7. Nxc6/7...Qg5/8. Qe2/8...Nf6/9. Nxa7/9...Bd7/10. Bxd7/10...Nxd7

tright Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defence rd kd bd rd nl pd pd nd pd pd qd pd pl pl pl pl ql pl pl pl rl bl kl rl Common moves: 11. f4 - Grandmaster Variation 11. Nb5 - International Master Variation 11. Qxe4 - Amateur Variation 11. f4 is the line adopted by all the top players who have had this variation as White, including Peter Svidler. As in the 9.f4 variation, White is defending g2 horizontally and hitting the Black queen, but now the circumstances are different: without the knight on c6, Black won't be obliged to chop f4 off simply to prevent the knight retreating to e5, and if she prefers to grab the c-pawn instead she can do that with 11...Qc5 (9.f4 Qc5? would have run into 10.d4 when everything is defended). 11. Nb5 allows 11...Qxg2 12.Qf1 Qxf1+ 13.Kxf1 O-O-O or 12.Rf1 O-O-O when Black's greater mobility compensates for the pawn. 11. Qxe4? wins a pawn but loses a piece, because it gives up control of the b5 square that the knight needs to retreat to. 11...Kd8 and now: 12.Qd4 and 12.Qe3 lose to 12...Bc5 12.Qa4 loses to 12...Nb6 12.Qxb7 Rxa7! and the rook is immune because 13.Qxa7 Qg2 picks up the h1-rook (14.Rf1 Bc5 with ...Re8+ to follow makes things even worse). Ruy LopezFun fact: those three moves in descending order of strength offer a pawn, preserve the material balance, and capture a pawn. Collecting pawns in the opening is overrated!