After Ruy Lopez

I'm a beginner......and i've been losing quite alot of games.... So... every now and then I come across the Ruy Lopez opening (as white). So what would be the best follow up when black threatens the bishop (a6)? I think it's called the Morphy's defence or something...

Thanks.

The two most played continuations are Ba4 and BxN.

They're very different, so I'd suggest you try one of the two for some time and look at theory after the games, in order to see if/where you went wrong and why, and then try the other one in the same way. So that you can see with experience which kind of game you're more comfortable with: the maneuvering one, when all pieces stay on the board and both players try to organize an attack without dissolving the tension in the centre which follows Ba4, or the exchange-pieces oriented BxN, when the centre is opened and play tends to evolve toward the endgame at a faster pace.

Thanks for the help.

Wait......if you move the bishop to a4, what do you do after he plays pawn to b5?.... and if you play bishop to b3, won't that be wasting moves while white develops his centre.......?

...b5 is a Pawn move which dosn't influence the centre, while the Bishop on b3 (and later, usually, on c2) does attack central squares and the Kingside. It's well established theory (centuries old!), when Black gains space on the Queenside while White aims his/her Pieces and play toward the Kingside, and both players have to be careful at all times to reamin aware of the consequences of an opening of the centre: it's not easy play, and going wrong is quite easy if you don't know theory and you're not familiar with all the typical tactics.

Maybe it's better to start with the BxN continuation, which presents its own difficulties but has arguably less dangers of losing the game quickly.

Anyway: there's no real shortcut if you want to get better at Chess, and you'll have to play difficult positions before or later, so it's your choice, so it's your move.

thanks again

Try to compare the positions after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 and 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3. Can you see why the latter is better for white?

don't allow Marshal Variation - thats my recommendation.

4.Bxc6 is the best way to get into a positional maze. The grounds for this move (that gives the pair of bishops, and helps Black developing) go over the head of most beginners : after the trade of the d pawn for the e pawn, White will have a majority of pawns on the kingside, while Black's majority on the queenside is effectvely crippled.

Even knowing this, the execution is far from easy and I got slaughtered numerous times for not paying attention to the pair of bishops. (and this, more than 1000 points above your blitz rating - you have some margin before fully grasping the concepts).

So at beginner's level... Well, both are playable, but you shouldn't be playing the Ruy Lopez anyways. Play something like 3.Bc4 that attacks f7, and lose a hundred of games to easy tactics before trying to "play like a grandamster".

As someone else said you have here 2 continuations: Ba4 and Bxc6.

1) Ba4. Keep the pressure on the C6 Knight. The game continue normally here, but black will soon or later play b5.

This is not a problem, you can play Bb3 and your bishop is on a good diagonal. It is true b5 gains space on the queenside but this is not always good for black, since white can strongly counterplay on b5 (with moves like a4, for example. Obviously at right time) Anyway , games from Ba4 are maybe a little too complex at your level.

2) Bxc6. The idea behind this move is easy. Change all the pieces, block queenside pawn structure and then with a kingside pawn majority, win the endgame promoting e pawn to queen. A variations is the following:

4. Bxc6, dxc6, 5. d4 (do not play Nxe5, it is a beginner's mistake! Black has the strong reply Qd4) exd4, 6. Qxd4, Qxd4, 7) Nxd4 ..

I wrote the plan from here upper. Anyway it is not always simple, because black has the bishop pair and the game is still long. Don't expect as white a easy win: the endgame is not near at all.

Hope it will be usefull! (sorry my bad english)

Playing 4 Bxc6 [the exchange variation] normally leads to an endgame in which white has the clear Kingside pawn majority, but allows Black the Bishop pair. If you want to 'win' this position as either color you should probably be the better endgame player. In the old Soviet Union they demanded that all chess students play both sides of the Ruy Lopez so as to get a good grasp of the battle for center squares. If I was a beginner I would probably do what 'irontiger' said and play something else.