Hello and welcome to this course!
My name is Andrey Esipenko, I’m a chess Grandmaster from Russia, participant of the 2026 Candidates Tournament. In this course I’ll show you a simple and practical way to play Ruy Lopez.
The main idea of this repertoire is to challenge Black in the center with an early d4. In many lines, Black players know a lot of theory, but after our central break they’ll often have to start thinking for themselves much sooner than expected.
Throughout this course, I’ll explain the key ideas, typical plans, and important tactical patterns so that you can understand the positions rather than simply memorize moves.
Let’s get started!
Play pawn to e4.