Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...a6/4. Ba4/4...Nf6/5. O-O/5...Be7/6. Re1

Closed Spanish Morphy defence C79 6...b5 6...d6 · Averbakh variation 6. Re1 Now the White's own e-pawn is defended, the threat Bxc6 & Nxe5 winning e5 becomes a serious problem for Black. The main move, 6...b5, permanently cuts out any of that nonsense. Black usually follows with castling and playing ...d6, freeing their c6 knight from having to guard e5 and allowing their bishop to develop. There's also 6...d6, the Averbakh variation. It looks like Black has just forgotten which order to play the moves in. In this line White can play 7. c3 before their bishop is kicked, so when ...b5 eventually comes the bishop can retreat to c2 in one move. White normally wants their bishop on c2, and this way they have saved a tempo compared to 6...b5 7. Bb3 followed by c3 and Bc2 later. The advantage for Black is that after 7.c3 Black has time to play ...Bg4 before White has gotten in h3. Whenever a bishop appears on g4 in the Closed Ruy Lopez, White is going to have to play d3 and bring the queen's knight across to the kingside to drive the bishop away before considering d4. On the other other hand, Magnus Carlsen voluntarily plays d3 instead of d4 even without a bishop on g4, so the current verdict seems to be that 6...d6 loses a tempo for no reason. Theory table . 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6.Re1 6 7 8 9 Re1b5 Bb3d6 c3O-O h3Bb7 ...d6 c3Bg4 d3Nd7 Be3h6 = ...O-O References See also Ruy Lopez fi:Shakkiaapinen/Peli/1. e4/1...e5/2. Rf3/2...Rc6/3. Lb5/3...a6/4. La4/4...Rf6/5. 0-0/5...Le7/6. Te1