page 1 of 60; games 1-25 of 1,497  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. L Rudenko vs V Borisenko-Belova 1-0 41 1954 URS-chT C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 2. V Zagorovsky vs G Borisenko 0-1 55 1954 URS-ch sf C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 3. Tal vs V Zurakhov   ½-½ 27 1955 Riga C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 4. Ravinsky vs Lutikov   0-1 45 1955 URS-ch sf C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 5. Geller vs Filip 1-0 38 1956 Amsterdam ct C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 6. Boleslavsky vs Ragozin   1-0 41 1956 USSR Championship C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 7. A Matanovic vs Smyslov   ½-½ 28 1956 Belgrade YUG-URS C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 8. Vasiukov vs G Borisenko   ½-½ 42 1956 URS-ch sf C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 9. I Ivanco vs J Kozma   ½-½ 23 1956 CSR-ch sf C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 10. V Ciocaltea vs G Barcza 0-1 40 1956 Moscow (ol) C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 11. K W Behle vs S Wolk   ½-½ 41 1957 Bad Neuenahr C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 12. P Clarke vs Blau 1-0 51 1957 Hastings 1957/58 C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 13. L Shamkovich vs Ragozin 0-1 40 1957 USSR, XXV-Champ.semif. C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 14. Kholmov vs Y Kots   ½-½ 74 1957 URS-ch sf C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 15. Geller vs Spassky 1-0 39 1958 USSR Championship C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 16. V Zurakhov vs Zamikhovsky   ½-½ 41 1958 Kiev-ch C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 17. Bannik vs V Shiyanovsky   0-1 61 1958 UKR-ch C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 18. Bannik vs M Levin   1-0 44 1958 UKR-ch C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 19. B Djurasevic vs E Walther   ½-½ 59 1958 13th olm qual. group 4 C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 20. E Walther vs Unzicker 0-1 52 1959 Zurich C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 21. J Sherwin vs Benko   0-1 33 1959 U.S. Open C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 22. T Weinberger vs I Rivise   1-0 45 1959 So. California Championship C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 23. Unzicker vs Tal 0-1 26 1960 Hamburg C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 24. Gufeld vs Zamikhovsky   ½-½ 48 1960 Avantgard-ch C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 25. G Chalkhasuren vs G Barcza   0-1 48 1960 Leipzig ol (Men) C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer  page 1 of 60; games 1-25 of 1,497    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Aug-12-02    refutor: the breyer has always seemed to be one of the strangest lines you can play in the closed lopez, moving the knight back to b8 just seems way too odd to me, but at least it doesn't get stuck on the side of the board like it does sometimes in the tchigorin lines. somebody once told me that the knight has already done his job on c6, so it's okay to move him back to b8 and i guess white's already lost some tempi with the bihsop moves but i don't think i could play it ;) May-30-03    Benjamin Lau: The closed Ruy Lopez in general has always been pretty weird to me- moving stuff back and forth for little reason. But it's still fun! I like the Breyer more than the others for some reason. I think that's just because it was one of the openings which helped me develop my positioning skills the most. Feb-04-05    John Meriwether: I think the Breyer is a solid opening that in the hands of an experienced chess player would serve him (or her) rather well. I rather enjoy playing it even with the backward knight move to b8. Nov-17-05    AlexanderMorphy: i have played this opening a few times and have drawn my 4 games....it's quite a drawish opening if neither side does anything too fancy, but white always has the better chance of winning/ Apr-19-07    gambitfan: GOD Thu 19/04/2007 Game of the Day R Thimann vs O Lie, 1977 Aug-21-07    get Reti: I'm still learning and I'm not sure how to respond to 1.e5 as black. I'm a positional player (I like the queen's gambit). I've gone all over the place, from the french to the sicilian dragon, but have had no luck. This opening seems to suit my positional style, as it focuses on putting pieces on their best squares, for example, the knight goes to d7, the light bishop goes to b7, the dark bishop tries to go to g7, and the rook goes to e8. Another exicting thing is that black can play ...d5 if prepared correctly. Would anyone recommend this or is it too much theory for someone like me? Aug-21-07    Open Defence: <Would anyone recommend this or is it too much theory for someone like me?> well the Closed Ruy is great, there is a downside on the amount of theory but you can narrow it down to a few lines.... another alternative might be the Petrov Defence.... rather than memorize the theory.. maybe you should just play many Ruy Games and note down your moves .. analyse them against the theory moves and then narrow your lines down.. once you have a feel for the Opening you sometimes dont need to memorize the lines and it just flows... Jan-04-08    Open Defence: I see Mamedyarov playing the Breyer now and then... maybe Aronian too ? Nov-18-08    Cactus: Many play it from time to time. It is very solid. Top level results lately favour black! Aug-17-10    rapidcitychess: <rather than memorize the theory.. maybe you should just play many Ruy Games and note down your moves .. analyse them against the theory moves and then narrow your lines down.. once you have a feel for the Opening you sometimes dont need to memorize the lines and it just flows...> Wow! Good idea for any heavy theory opening, like Sicilian and Semi-Slav. Aug-02-11    wuvmuffin72: I've studied the Zaitsev back then with the idea that I could have a back up defense to the Sicilian. I ended up ditching the Sicilian because I had way too much theory to deal with with the my two defenses to 1. e4. Eventually I ditched the Sicilian to work on the open games because I was winning a lot of games as Black against weaker players and obtained equal positions against stronger players with 1. ... e5. After playing the Zaitsev for a year I studied the Breyer because I had an old copy of Chess Informant on the Breyer from the early nineties and was quite surprised that my prep work on the Closed Ruy has lessened significantly compared to the Zaitsev and that lines going past move 20-24 hasn't changed all that much in the past decade or two. I was quite surprised by this fact and did some updating on modern moves using chessbase. The quality of the Breyer is almost equaled to the intuitive playability of the Nimzo-Indian... I said almost. Breyer might require some intensive learning, but improvising when you forget some of the theory after move 15 tends to be more forgiving compared to some openings. I feel much worse about forgetting the theory to the (Max Lange or that Italian/Scotch gambit complex in general) attack compared to forgetting the theory to the Breyer. Feb-10-12    Penguincw: Opening of the Day Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.O-O e7 6.e1 b5 7.b3 O-O 8.c3 d6 9.h3 b8 click for larger view Jan-19-13    Tigranny: Does Black have better chances of winning with the Breyer than with the Chigorin? Jan-19-13    Marmot PFL: Probably the Chigorin is better for complicating the game while the Breyer is very hard to beat. Jan-19-13    Tigranny: <Marmot PFL> Thanks! Jan-19-13    Marmot PFL: For a while I found the Breyer almost impossible to beat so I started playing it. I won a last round game against a player 200 points above me that we both wanted to win just by playing solid and letting him use up most of his time trying to find an attack. It can be hard to win for black though (at least quickly) as the game sometimes gets very closed with white having more space. Mar-25-13    WiseWizard: Why is this considered more solid than the Chigorin? I feel like Black's queenside play in the chigorin is more straightforward and flexible since he has the pawns side by side on c5 +b5. Whats black's goal/dream position out of these openings?

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.