A6 in the Spanish

Hi guys..Mind explaining to me why does black most of the time play ...a6 after.1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.BB5??

That forces white to either play Bxc6 or Ba4. If he decides to take the knight, most black players are fine with that. If he moves to a4, then black can play b5 at any time and remove the pin.

I admit. I lol'd

Because it is proven to be among(Edit: due to comment from Shakaali) the best responses, Conzipe already explained the idea behind it, here are some variations:

Hilarious post. Laughed my ass off.

10/10

Someone should tell this to all those super GMs that regulary play the Berlin defence with 3... Nf6.

Well, the question was about a6, and it indeed mostly played move(5-6 times more frequently then the secondly played move). No one says that other moves are bad( but one can not post all the Ruy Lopez variations), if it please you, I will edit my post.

chessgames.com

3...a6	27,323	35.9% 40.7% 23.4%
3...Nf6	4,673	35% 40.5% 24.5%
3...f5	991	43.1% 29.5% 27.4%
3...Bc5	718	42.1% 32.5% 25.5%

365chess.com (masters database)

3... a6	17842	27.3 % 55.5 % 17.3 %
3... Nf6	3499	27.3 % 53.2 % 19.5 %
3... g6	432	27.3 % 50.9 % 21.8 %
3... f5	418	36.4 % 44.7 % 18.9 %

rooperi

Aug 25, 2010

0

#8

I play a6 because I think a5 is too ambitious.