Openings · C70–C99

Ruy López, Morphy Defence

3…a6 — asking the bishop a question, and the move nearly every Spanish game is built on.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6played as Black

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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h8
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a
Your move 1 of 30/3
  1. 1.e4e5
  2. 2.Nf3Nc6
  3. 3.Bb5a6

White is answering…

The idea

The bishop has to choose. It takes on c6, which repairs nothing and gives Black the two bishops, or it goes to a4, where …b5 can hit it again and …Na5 can offer to trade it off altogether.

That option is what the tempo buys. White's bishop is the piece that makes the Spanish a Spanish — the long pressure on c6 and therefore on e5 — and every structure Black builds afterwards, Closed or Open or Marshall, assumes the right to challenge it exists.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Recapturing on c6 with the b-pawn

After 4…bxc6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
Meeting the Exchange Variation with 4…bxc6, to keep the pawns on the side they came from.
Why it costs
4…dxc6 is the move: it opens the queen and the bishop on c8 in one go, and the pawn on e5 is not really hanging — 5.Nxe5 is answered by 5…Qd4, when the pawn comes back. After 4…bxc6 the queenside is doubled with nothing opened in return, and White simply castles and plays d4.
Instead
4…dxc6, and treat the doubled pawns as the price of the bishop pair rather than as damage to be avoided.

Playing the Marshall by accident

After 8…d5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Answering 8.c3 with 8…d5, because it looks like the freeing move the position has been asking for.
Why it costs
That is the Marshall Attack, a pawn sacrifice with a century of analysis behind it and a reputation for holding up. Played without that analysis it is simply a pawn given away for a bishop that points at h2 and a queen that has nowhere to go.
Instead
8…d6, the Closed Spanish, with …Na5 hitting the bishop and …c5 behind it. The Marshall is worth learning — but on purpose, and from the beginning.

Taking on e4 without the Open Spanish

After 7.Re1
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Grabbing the pawn on e4 and then trying to hold on to it.
Why it costs
7.Re1 puts a rook on the file the knight is standing in, and the pawn cannot be defended — everything from here is forcing, and the lines are known by name. The Open Spanish is a whole opening rather than a pawn win.
Instead
5…Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 — the Open Variation, with …Be6 and a knight on e4 that is supported rather than stranded. Or 5…Be7, and leave the pawn alone.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning.

  1. Ba4+0.5
  2. Bc4+0.2
  3. Bxc6+0.1
  4. Be2-0.1
  5. Bf1-0.5
  6. Bd3-0.8

The engine's main line from Ba4: Ba4 Nf6 O-O Nxe4 d4 b5 Bb3 d5.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The Ruy López, Morphy Defence is a variation of the Ruy López, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

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