Taking the fight to white in Ruy Lopez, which variations should I look for?

I have been playing the Berlin Ruy as black everytime I face it, its not that I am good enough to play for a draw in Berlin but I wanna play it more risky now, I should be challenging myself.

I have heard that Schliemann makes white pretty uncomfortable, but other than that I am completely a noob to Spanish, share me your wisdom, will ya?

I would recommend checking out the Zaitsev System (9. ...Bb7) of the Closed Ruy Lopez.

The idea of this variation is to build up pressure on e4. In this position the b7 bishop, the f6 knight and e8 rook are all targeting the e4 pawn. If white makes a careless move, then e4 will fall.

For example:

It can get very sharp and tactical.

There are some other very active lines if you want something different from that.

Open Ruy Lopez

Arkhangelsk

Modern Arkhangelsk

Looks like I have some learning to do. These all look mighty positional, though a good attack comes from a proper position.

You talked about Zaitsev system. I noticed the system in particular, so this is a setup I can use in Ruy most of the time without deviating much?

I would say the Ruy Lopez just has that kind of nature. It starts positional but it's just preparing pieces for attack and then it gets sharp. The Zaitsev is one of the sharper variations as it's immediately applying pressure. The Breyer is known as the more passive but solid variation.

This is the main line Closed Ruy Lopez that white will also aim for most of the time. White can make deviations but they are less ambitious. A lot of the time you can aim for this type of setup with the bishop fianchettoed on b7 and it works even in most deviations.

When it comes to the Ruy Lopez, it's a lot about pattern recognition. For example, whenever white defends the e4 pawn, you immediately play b5 to cut off the bishop, preventing the capture on c6 then e5.

Some of the major deviations to be aware of are the Exchange, Martinez and Yates variations.

The Exchange is very passive and nothing to be scared of. The doubled pawns are not that bad when you have the bishop pair in an open position. It actually allows black to play aggressively.

Against the Exchange you can try this:

The Martinez (6. d3) is more solid but less ambitious for white. Some of the same ideas still work well for black. It's still a type of Closed Ruy Lopez.

The Yates variation is immediately playing 9. d4 without h3, allowing Bg4. Here, Bg4 is just the best move to try to punish this move order. Some people still play like this though as it's ok for white, but black can equalise easily.

An example line:

The Norwegian Variation is very ambitious, and risky! 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5. It has some advantages.

1. It can only be avoided by 4.Bxc6, which black has to be ready for anyway after 3...a6. By contrast white has so many options to avoid the Zaitsev, Marshall, Open, etc.
2. White has to play actively to punish it, playing safe just helps black. This is the opposite of a gambit where playing safe can be depressing for the gambiteer.
3. It has zero popularity at high level. There's a good chance your opponent has never seen it before, and even if they have they can't spring any new ideas -- assuming you are prepared!

There is some analysis in Bosch (2022) How to Out-Prepare Your Opponent, see pages 20 and 84. Bosch calls it "incredibly ambitious" and "dubious" (nevertheless he plays it sometimes).

the Zaitsev isn't fighting because after Re8 White can play Ng5 and force a draw unless black plays h6 instead of Re8 which is a concession

There is this as well if you want some alternative approach. I encountered it 2 or 3 times against my Ruy Lopez. But to be fair, I don't know much about it, apart that white shouldn't take the pawn because of e5. f5 shouldn't be a terrible move, but it is certainly just a sideline.

Though, I have to say that this is not really my style, especially because I don't recommend moving this f pawn that early for improving players. In case you like it, then perhaps look at it a little bit to avoid losing right away. But still, don't overdo it either.

White can try to force a draw but that's a pathetic way of playing for white so most people don't play like that.

Even when black plays h6, they are still actually doing well in these lines. It still serves a purpose preventing any pieces coming to g5 which would aid in a kingside attack. It's not a terrible concession.

Even playing h6 before Bb7 is a viable defence called the Smyslov Defence.

I know but that's not the Zaitsev anymore so it makes sense to just learn the Smyslov since Re8 is unplayable if you want to win

My very rough notes on the Schliemann Variation (3. ... f5).

Another interesting possibility is the Cozio Defense:

Alternatively, either the Open Defense or the Marshall Attack are worth a look.

Yeah, Schliemann seems a little less sound than the other options given here but it seems it is a weapon in practice. Also heard a lot about Marshall, I am gonna take a look into that.

The other variations shown here are clearly sound but I need to learn a lot of ideas before employing those. 

Until then I suppose I want agression right out of the gate.

The Schliemann is a recommendation from Chess Coach Andras so it can’t be bad. The Marshall Attack is a very dangerous weapon to play and I highly recommend you use the Lichess database to study all the lines and find traps. I like to play the Open Variation as I see nothing wrong with taking the pawn and changing the game.

But you are assuming that every white player will want to play a forced drawing line which they don't. It's like saying no-one should play the French because the opponents will just play the French Exchange and force a draw.

There are forced drawing lines for white in loads of openings but most of the time people don't play them because it's a cowardly way of playing.

Ultimately a draw is considered a better result for black anyway. If white forces a draw being up a tempo then it's not much different from resigning.

I like your approach to chess but youre too dramatic, first of all I'm a tournament player so it shouldn't be possible that any player that knows a common repetition can force a draw against me with White. also OP wanted a fighting opening, and allowing a quick draw isn't fighting. If you were playing against Magnus would you consider a draw with White the same as losing? Magnus wouldn't allow you to play a forced draw and he would look for chances to outplay you as soon as possible. I'm learning 1... e5 to play for the win and test my opponents, against the Spanish I'll play the Open variation but with Be7 so a rare sideline that gives chances to black. Mamedyarov used it to beat Aronian in the Olympiad 2018 I think, of course there are forced draws there but they are much more hidden than Ng5-Nf3 and if someone even knows about them (my line is very rare) they have deserved a draw

Why should I fight for a draw? At my level people don't even bother resigning in dead lost positions. 

Sorry Lord but I was talking to Samuel

No worries, me too. Not that his comment was towards me or anything but still.

To be fair, Black’s goal is to equalize. After they equalize, then they can try to fight for an advantage. However, in complex openings like the Ruy Lopez, it’s not easy to go a drawn line when as there is quite a bit of theory to avoid being worse especially at your level. Even the Berlin Endgame is not really drawn at your level because no one knows how to play it properly to force a draw

"dramatic"? What the hell are you talking about?

If I was playing against Magnus I would consider a draw with white a good result but I wouldn't play a forced draw in the opening even against Magnus because that's cheap and lame.

If someone is playing a forced draw against you in an online game with the white pieces then that's stupid as hell because they obviously don't really want to play the game.

So if you play this position with the white pieces then would you always play the forced draw?