page 1 of 29; games 1-25 of 723  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Hanstein vs Von Der Lasa ½-½ 49 1839 ? C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 2. Hanstein vs Von Der Lasa   ½-½ 29 1839 ? C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 3. Hanstein vs Von Der Lasa   ½-½ 68 1841 Berlin C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 4. Saint Amant vs Cochrane   0-1 23 1842 London m3 C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 5. E Rousseau vs C Stanley ½-½ 60 1845 New Orleans m ;HCL 34 C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 6. Horwitz vs Kieseritzky 0-1 55 1846 London m1 C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 7. Bird vs A Simons 1-0 50 1850 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 8. Bird vs J Smith 1-0 21 1850 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 9. Mohishunder vs Cochrane   1-0 21 1850 Calcutta C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 10. F Greenaway vs Anderssen   1-0 29 1851 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 11. Mohishunder vs Cochrane   0-1 54 1851 Calcutta C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 12. Mohishunder vs Cochrane   0-1 27 1851 Calcutta C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 13. E Williams vs Harrwitz 0-1 46 1852 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 14. E Williams vs Harrwitz 0-1 94 1852 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 15. Lowenthal vs Harrwitz 1-0 40 1853 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 16. D Urusov vs Shumov   1-0 42 1853 St Petersburg m C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 17. Mayet vs Anderssen 1-0 27 1855 Berlin C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 18. Zytogorski vs R Brien   1-0 54 1855 Kling's Coffee House C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 19. Morphy vs E Morphy 1-0 19 1856 New Orleans C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 20. H Catley vs A Cunningham   0-1 34 1857 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 21. Morphy vs J Schulten 1-0 30 1857 Morphy vs. Schulten C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 22. Morphy vs S Boden ½-½ 57 1858 London C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 23. Lowenthal vs Morphy 0-1 67 1858 Match C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 24. Mayet vs Anderssen 0-1 15 1859 Berlin - C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 25. De Riviere vs Kolisch 0-1 23 1860 Paris C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical  page 1 of 29; games 1-25 of 723    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Secrets of Opening Surprises

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing > Oct-26-04    Minor Piece Activity: No, this is the classical. Morphy's defense is a6. Oct-27-04    morphy234: I'm pretty sure Bc5 is Morphy's defense. a6 seems so common... Oct-27-04    BiLL RobeRTiE: And yet you are still wrong. =] Oct-27-04    Dudley: He's right morphy. a6 was Morphy's most lasting contribution to chess opening theory, other than his demonstration of the way open chess games should be played. Oct-27-04    square dance: ive read that morphy did not invent this move or even use it any more than his contemperary players, but it was called "morphy's defense" because of his popularity at the time. Mar-18-05    InspiredByMorphy: Morphy did play this once Morphy vs S Boden, 1858 Mar-18-05    InspiredByMorphy: Does anybody have any thoughts on blacks fourth move in the following variation? 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 f5 ? Opening Explorer Mar-18-05    mellow: 5.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6(a) 7.Nxe5 Bd6 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2! Qh4 10.Nd2 Bf5 (a)6...exf3?! 7.Bxf3 exd4 8.0-0! Be7 9.Qxd4 Nf6 10.c4 0-0 11.Nc3 Mar-18-05    InspiredByMorphy: <mellow> Thanks for the input. Im concluding that from the explanation points you would rather be playing the white side of the board. <.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6(a) 7.Nxe5 Bd6 Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2! Qh4 10.Nd2 Bf5> A Davies vs Speelman, 1988 There was only one game in the database to draw off this analysis. <6. ...exf3?! 7.Bxf3 exd4 8.0-0!> E Torre vs S Tatai, 1976 Aug-05-05    ArturoRivera: why does nobody plays d5 in this position: 1.-e4 e5 2.-Nf3 Nc6 4.-Bb5 Bc5 4.-c3 d5!?, why not, some lines, opening experts? Aug-05-05    Swapmeet: <ArturoRivera> I'm no expert, but it looks to me like 5.Nxe5 just wins a pawn, while considerably increasing the pressure on c6. 5...Qg5 seems like an intersting try, but after 6.0-0 I think white is better. Of course 5...dxe4 would just lose immediately to 6.Nxc6. Aug-05-05    sneaky pete: 3... Bc5 4.c3 d5 was pioneered by Jerzy Konikowski and has been played in numerous correspondence games since around 1970. Schiller and Watson give one refutation (starting 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.Qa4 ..) in their 1995 "Big book of busts" and another (starting 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.0-0 ..) in a more recent webpublication ("The open games as white"). I haven't checked the first bust, but the second is no good: 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.0-0 Qxe5 7.d4 Qe6 8.dxc5 dxe4 9.Re1 Bd7 10.Bg5 .. "Black cannot equalize now. Black's king has great difficulty escaping from the center", but only if black does not play 10... Nge7 11.Nd2 f5 with ... 0-0-0 soon to follow. Aug-09-05    ArturoRivera: Inspired by Morphy, in your line <.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6(a) 7.Nxe5 Bd6 Qh5+ g6, doesnt white wins a pawn by Nxg6 and black cant take it due tp the rook hanging on h8, and if then Nf6 chasing the queen, white still has a retreat square for the queen in the black's queen diagonal, then, why is it not played? Dec-14-05    paladin at large: I see that Spassky had good results with the classical defense - is it still considered a viable alternative to the Morphy Defense in the Ruy Lopez at high level play? Thanks in advance. Dec-29-05    jperr75108: seems somewhat illogical to play into Whites idea of c3, and d4. With white I am usually happy to see this stuff. Aug-20-06    WTHarvey: Here are some puzzles from C64 miniatures: http://www.wtharvey.com/c64.html Sep-07-06    TheKid: How come the Classical has gone out of style? Even if the grandmasters have analysed it to death, it still must be playable at least under 2200. Sep-07-06    NateDawg: <TheKid> I once read an interesting theory in "Chess Life" magazine as to why people play certain openings. Grandmasters like to refute openings that "common" people (under 2200 or so) play, or at least find a way to get an advantage. Chess books and magazines cover the openings that Grandmasters play, and amateurs use openings they read about in books and magazines. Therefore, if a popular opening is considered by grandmasters to be sub-optimal, gradually amateurs will stop playing it also. The example that "Chess Life" gives is the Marshall Variation of the French and Sicilian Defenses, which many people have never even heard of. It goes 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. c3 c5 or 1. e4 c5 2. f3 e6 3. d4 d5. The Sicilian variation was played 33 times in this database, the French variation, 25. This opening apparently used to be quite popular, but, as the Grandmasters ceased to like it for its dullness and simplification, it all but disappeared from the chess world. The reason that grandmasters do not especially like the Classical Ruy Lopez for Black is (I think) for two main reasons: one, it has been discovered that it is best to play ...a6 and ...f6 first, and two, the bishop at c5 is exposed and subject to counterattack by a4 or c3 followed by d4. A more common variation with ...c5 nowadays is the Neo-Arkhangelsk, the main line of which goes 1. e4 e5 f3 c6 3. b5 a6 4. a4 f6 5. 0-0 b5 6. b3 c5. Black will continue with ...b7, while White will usually put a pawn at d4, supported by one at c3. Sep-18-06    TheKid: Interesting point. The lure of fashion snares everyone it seems. Apr-24-08    whiteshark: Opening of the day: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... As for the line <4...f5 5.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6 7.Nxe5 Bd6 Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2! Qh4 10.Nd2> A Davies vs Speelman, 1988 I think you have to look for good other 4th moves seriously. Aug-01-08    WarmasterKron: Other 4th moves? How about 4...Qf6!?: NN (1374) - Kron (1450) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Qf6 5. O-O Nge7 6. d3 h6 7. Re1 d6 8. Bc4 O-O 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. b3 g5 12. Bb2 g4 13. b4 Bb6 14. b5 Nd8 15. Nc4 gxf3 16. Qxf3 Bxf2+ 17. Kxf2 Qh4+ 18. g3 Rxf3+ 19. Kxf3 Qf6+ 20. Kg2 d5 21. Ref1 Qg5 22. h4 Qh5 23. exd5 exd5 0-1 IM Andrew Martin called it the "If it's good enough for Capa" variation, in reference to R Lopez Martinez vs Capablanca, 1911 Feb-04-09    blacksburg: <IM Andrew Martin called it the "If it's good enough for Capa" variation> you gotta be careful with capa and the opening.... Janowski vs Capablanca, 1916 Feb-04-09    blacksburg: also, is this opening "respectable"? it's either this or the berlin, i'm sick of the exchange variation... Feb-04-09    blacksburg: ok nevermind, i don't like this line... Feb-19-09    chessman95: I don't know this line very well, so what I usually do is play 4.Nxe5(!?) and if black recaptures with the knight then I fork with d4, and if Black plays Bxf2+ then I take the bishop and have even material, the bishop pair, and an exposed king. < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >

NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other users. Nothing in violation of United States law. See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific opening and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.