1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Game, is the most principled way for White to fight for an advantage after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5. Where the Italian Game develops the bishop to c4 and aims at f7, the Ruy Lopez attacks the c6-knight that defends Black’s e5-pawn, putting the center under pressure from move three. It has been the backbone of elite 1. e4 play for over a century, and its core ideas show up in countless other openings: pressure on e5, the a4–b3 bishop retreat, and central breaks with c3 and d4.
The defining position arises after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5. White’s second move attacks e5; the third move pressures the knight that defends it. Black’s most common reply is 3... a6 (the Morphy Defense), when White keeps the bishop with 4. Ba4 and the game branches. Classical main-line theory continues 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 into long closed middlegames; this repertoire instead strikes with an early d4 (for example 3... a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4), opening the center while Black is still developing. The same recipe works against 3... d6 (4. d4), 3... Bc5 (4. c3 and 5. d4), and 3... Nf6 (4. O-O with d4 and Re1 to follow), so you reach open, tactical positions from one consistent plan.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. O-O Bc5 7. e5 Nd5 8. Bb3 Nb6 9. Ng5 O-O 10. Qh5
Instead of the slow closed main lines, White rips the center open with 5. d4 while Black is still mobilizing. After 6. O-O White is fully developed for the cost of a pawn Black struggles to keep; 7. e5 gains space with tempo, and the Bb3–Ng5–Qh5 battery aims everything at f7 and h7. Objectively Black can defend with precise moves, but one natural slip, like castling into the attack here, invites sacrifices on f7.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 exd4 6. Re1 d5 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. f3
Black counterattacks e4 immediately, and White answers with 4. O-O and the central break 5. d4. The critical test of greedy play is 6. Re1, pinning the e4-knight against the king: after 6... d5 7. Nxd4 White piles up, and 9. f3 wins the pinned knight back with the better structure and the safer king. The famous main line is 5... Nd6 heading for the Berlin endgame, solid but joyless for Black, so most club opponents grab pawns instead and run into exactly these lines.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 a6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Nxe5
Against the old Steinitz Defense White breaks immediately with 4. d4. The natural-looking 4... a6 is already a mistake: 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. dxe5 wins a clean pawn, because after 6... dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Nxe5 Black has wrecked pawns and a king stranded in the center, with only the bishop pair as nominal compensation. Black stays solid only with moves like 4... exd4 or 4... Bd7, when White keeps a comfortable space and development edge.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 d6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Kf1
Against 3... Bc5 White builds the full pawn center with c3 and d4, hitting the bishop and the e5-pawn at once. After 6... Bb4+ the repertoire’s choice 7. Kf1 spends castling rights to keep every piece on the board (the textbook moves are 7. Bd2 or 7. Nc3), betting that the stranded b4-bishop matters more than the king on f1. White follows with Qa4, attacking the loose bishop and the queenside, and the break d5 creates concrete threats against c6 and the a8-rook.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. d4
When Black combines ...Nf6 and ...Bc5, White plays the classic fork trick: 5. Nxe5 gives up a knight for one move, then 6. d4 forks the bishop and knight to win the piece straight back. White emerges with a broad pawn center, open lines, and ongoing initiative. After 6... Bd6 7. dxe5 Bxe5, the pawns roll forward with f4 and e5 and Black spends the middlegame retreating.
Facing the Ruy Lopez as Black, your first decision is the defense, and your second is knowing what this kind of early-d4 repertoire wants from you. The Morphy Defense with 3... a6 is the main road. Note that 3... a6 does not lose the e5-pawn, since after 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 the fork 5... Qd4 regains it. When White plays an early d4 (the Center Attack), capture with ...exd4 and then prioritize development: ...Be7, ...b5 when useful, and quick castling. The attack only works against pawn-grabbing and slow moves; returning the d4-pawn for smooth development is usually the right trade. The Berlin Defense, 3... Nf6, is the solid professional choice: after 4. O-O play the main line 4... Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 toward the Berlin endgame rather than 5... exd4, which runs into 6. Re1 and a nasty pin. Marshall Attack fans should know the gambit only exists against the closed main line with 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5. Against early-d4 systems it simply never appears, so have a second plan. In the Steinitz with 3... d6, play ...Bd7 before ...a6, or the Bxc6+/dxe5 trick costs you a pawn outright. Whatever you choose, contest the center concretely: the Ruy Lopez punishes drifting more than any other 1. e4 e5 opening.
Keep the e5-pawn under pressure, then break with d4 before Black finishes developing. Open the center, castle fast, and convert the lead in development into threats: Ng5 and Qh5 hits on f7, pins down the e-file with Re1, and Qa4 or Qf3 shots at Black’s loose queenside. When queens come off early, as in the Steinitz lines, play the endgame a pawn up with the healthier structure. The bishop usually belongs on a4 or b3, raking the board toward f7.
Hold the e5-point or trade it off on your own terms with ...exd4 followed by rapid development. Gain time on the bishop with ...a6 and ...b5, get castled before grabbing material, and meet central pressure with the freeing breaks ...d5 or ...c5 at the right moment. Solid setups with ...Be7 and ...d6 neutralize most of White’s tricks; greed before development is what loses these positions.
The opening is named after Ruy López de Segura, a 16th-century Spanish priest who analyzed it in his 1561 chess treatise, which is why much of the world calls it the Spanish Game. It became the centerpiece of classical opening theory and has remained a main battleground of elite chess ever since, appearing in world championship matches across every era. The Berlin Defense earned its modern fame when Vladimir Kramnik used it as his defensive wall against Garry Kasparov in their 2000 world championship match. Today the Ruy Lopez spans the entire spectrum of styles, from razor-sharp gambit play to the most solid endgames in opening theory.
Let's play the Ruy Lopez
Let's learn the Ruy Lopez! This opening is unstoppable. It's irrefutable. It's so good that not a single line in this ENTIRE course will leave you in a bad position. Master this course, and I guarantee you'll have a significant advantage in every game you play. First things first: pawn to e4.
Let's continue with the Ruy Lopez
Second things second: knight to f3.
Let's kick off the Ruy Lopez
To kick off the Ruy Lopez, we play bishop to b5. This does two things: 1. It lets us castle (nice). 2. It puts pressure on their knight, which is the only defender of their e5 pawn.
That was a very passive move, and it lets us play pawn to d4 immediately.
Now we have a more-or-less forcing line that will win us a pawn. First: bishop takes knight on c6.
Now pawn takes pawn on e5.
Now queen takes queen on d8.
Finally, we win a pawn with knight takes e5.
Well done! We are up a pawn and also threatening a nasty fork on f7. The computer loves our position and graces it with a +2.5 point advantage.
Let's castle now
OK, back to winning a free pawn. First: Queen takes queen on d8.
Now we finally get the pawn: Knight takes pawn on e5.
Sweet! A free pawn!
Knight captures back on d4, adding more pressure to the c6 knight.
Let's just play simple chess: knight to c3.
Black is trying to break out of the position. Before we capture back on d4, let's play bishop takes bishop on d7.
NOW we can play queen captures back on d4.
Instead of castling kingside, let's actually play bishop to f4 and try to castle queenside.
OK, now castle queenside :)
Now we can unleash our master plan: Pawn to e5, hitting the f6 knight and adding a ton of pressure down the d-file.
Well done!! There's a few ways black can try to untangle themselves out of this, but honestly none of them will work. We have a crushing position.
Black put their bishop in a bad square. Our plan is to boot it out with pawn to d4, but first we have to prepare that move with pawn to c3.
This falls right into our d4 plan: pawn to d4.
We take back with pawn to d4 to hit the bishop.
Now for a move you've probably NEVER done before. We aren't going to block check with the knight. We aren't going to block check with the bishop. We're going to MOVE OUR KING over to f1. No, seriously. The idea is we don't want to give a way for black to trade their dark squared bishop. This king slide to f1 will mean we'll likely win one of black's pieces.
Queen to a4, attacking the bishop and adding a bit more pressure to the c6 knight
Black's most common move here literally just loses them a bishop. No, seriously, the bishop is trapped right now. Pawn to a3 wins it on the spot.
Nice!! I won't complain about a free bishop.
OK, we have the ability to trap black's bishop. First, we play bishop takes knight on c6.
Now queen to a4 and the bishop is TRAPPED.
Nice try black, but that does nothing to save the trapped bishop. Pawn to a3 now.
Nice! That bishop is ours.
Both names refer to the same opening: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5. It is named after Ruy López de Segura, a Spanish priest who analyzed it in his 1561 chess book, so English speakers use his name while many other languages simply call it the Spanish.
Not immediately. After 3... a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5, Black regains the pawn with 5... Qd4, forking the knight on e5 and the pawn on e4. The pressure on e5 becomes real once White adds moves like O-O, Re1, or d4, which is why the threat shapes the whole opening anyway.
They share the first two moves; the difference is where the bishop goes. The Italian plays 3. Bc4, aiming directly at f7, while the Ruy Lopez plays 3. Bb5, attacking the knight that defends e5 and fighting for the center. The Ruy Lopez is generally considered the more ambitious try for an opening advantage.
Yes, especially with an early-d4 repertoire like this one. You get open, tactical positions, clear targets like f7 and the e5-pawn, and plenty of traps against natural-looking defenses, without memorizing the enormous theory of the closed main lines.
The Morphy Defense, 3... a6, is the most popular and flexible reply, while the Berlin Defense, 3... Nf6, is the rock-solid professional choice: Black heads for the famous Berlin endgame after 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6. Both are fully sound; the practical danger is in the natural-looking moves around them.
Reading about an opening is step one. The trainer at the top of this page drills all 55 lines against the moves real opponents play. The first lines are free.
Train the Ruy Lopez now