The Spanish Party: An Overview of the Main Variants. Lesson twenty-five. Studying the opening. Spanish game Chess debut Spanish game

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Lesson twenty-five. Studying the opening. Spanish Party.

Created on 25.07.2012 17:37

Lesson twenty-five. Studying the opening. Spanish Party.

How to start a chess game? Chess opening.

Today you will meet the one how to start a chess game... Do you still remember that the beginning of a chess game is called chess opening. What should you do in the opening?
You know that chess is played in many countries. And depending on the nature of the people, the chess game began in different ways. In India, the formations of the figures resembled rich palaces. The warlike Vikings-Scandinavians invented the beginning, where the queen immediately rushes into battle on the first moves. Of course, there is also a Russian party.
Your task is to find out such openings that will help bring out your pieces faster.

Today you will get acquainted with the popular chess opening - the Spanish game. This debut, as you understand from the name, was invented by the Spaniards over 500 years ago. The names of these Spaniards Lucena and Lopez... Why do we want to introduce you to this beginning? This opening is not only for novice chess players, it is not at all outdated for hundreds of years, it was played with great success recently by many world chess champions: Lasker, Capablanca, Fisher, Karpov.

There are seven moves in the diagram a bargaining chip for the Spanish game... You guessed right away why this beginning is called "Bargaining".

1. e2 - e4 e7 - e5
2. Kg1 - f3 Kb8 - c6
3. Cf1 - b5 a7 - a6
4. Bb5: c6 d7: c6
5. d2 - d4 e5: d4
6. Qd1: d4 Qd8: d4
7. Kf3: d4

The chessboard became very empty - everything was exchanged. But the fun is just beginning. This position has been known for a long time, but chess players are still arguing over who is better ?! A well-known game where there is one world champion Lasker played white with another champion - Capablanca... Let's find out which of them was right.

Let's take a closer look at several of the initial moves of the Spanish game.

1. e2 - e4 e7 - e5
2. Kg1 - f3 Kb8 - c6
3. Cf1 - b5 a7 - a6

You already know the first two moves, but on the third, the "Spanish bishop" appears on the board! His task is to attack the knight - the defender of the e5 pawn.
A pawn attacked the bishop.

But this is not the only sequel. In the variations of the Spanish game, an interesting piece play arises on different flanks. Now black can choose one of several moves.
Can go

• 3. ... Bf8 – c5,
• 3. ... Kc6 – d4,
• 3. ... Kg8 – f6,
• 3. ... g7 – g6,
• 3. ... d7 – d6,
• 3. ... f7 – f5.

Let's go back to the game. Our bishop has two possibilities: to retreat to a4 or to capture the knight on c6.
We will get acquainted with the departure of the elephant in the near future, and today -
4. Bb5: c6 . . .

The bishop is dying, but it has fulfilled two tasks: it destroyed the defender of the e5-pawn and spoiled the pawn structure - it doubled the pawns for black.

Which pawn to take: the b or d pawn? It is usually recommended to hit from the edge to the center, but in this case the exception is
4. . . . d7: c6

Why did Black choose this particular capture? Roads are opened for bishops and Black also gets the d-file for his heavy pieces.
5. d2 - d4 . . .

Why did White not immediately capture the e5-pawn with the knight?
It turns out that this pawn is easily recouped either by the move 5. ... Qd8 - d4 or 5. ... Qd8 - g5... Black deals a double blow to the knight and pawn. Therefore, whites are better off fighting for the center!

5. . . . e5: d4
6. Qd1: d4 Qd8: d4
7. Kf3: d4

Take a close look at the resulting position. To test your chess memory, try to reconstruct the course of the game yourself. Let's find out whose position do you like best?

What is the best way to study opening?

There is no consensus on this matter. It all depends on your ability to remember the main variations and, most importantly, to understand what is required in a particular opening: where to display the pieces and what to do next.

You shouldn't memorize long opening lines. Even grandmasters are unable to memorize many moves. Learn to play from general considerations. You need to understand what is happening on the chessboard. Then you will not get lost in unfamiliar positions. It is necessary to remember the most common pitfalls so that the game does not end as soon as it starts. It is best to study openings together with famous grandmasters, analyzing their games.

After playing with friends or parents analyze the mistakes you meet... Choose which opening you will play in the next games with white and black.

The use of this material on the Internet without specifying a link to the author, site and book is prohibited. The rights to publish the book and this material belong to the authors of the chess textbook "Chess for Children, Parents and Teachers" Kostrov Vsevolod and Davletov Jalil.
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Berlin Defense in Spanish Party became part of the main weapon behind the Blacks today. Berlin has a reputation for being boring and a draw for Black. However, that all changed when Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik used it against Garry Kasparov in the World Championship match.

Kramnik used it in four games and they all ended in a draw. After that, this option attracted elite players, and ordinary chess players followed them. Many grandmasters such as Topalov, Shirov, Anand and even Kasparov began to use this defense after the match. Currently reigning champion Magnus Carlsen continues to use it, as well as other strong players Wesley So and Levon Aronian.

To fight gross mistakes, find the right plan in difficult positions, strengthen your positional and tactical vision, we recommend you. Hundreds of chess players have already benefited from our training. Do not wait,

Why is she so popular for the Blacks?

After moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 White usually continues 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 5.dxe5 Nf5 6.Qxd8 + Kxd8

The question often arises: why is the opening, in which Black exchanged queens, lost the castling right and received a doubled pawn, is so popular? The reason is pretty simple. Castling is not so important after a queens exchange, and the king in the center is not only safe, but even much more useful. Black gets doubled pawns, but has no weaknesses. The most important and attractive element for Black is that he gets a pair of bishops.

And where are the hopes of winning, if White tries to open a position in order to realize his pawn majority, then Black bishops will get room and sufficient counterplay. And most importantly, in the Berlin Defense you don't need to know the exact sequence of moves, as in the Sicilian Defense. Therefore Black can afford small mistakes that will not affect his play.

This protection can be avoided

In this article, I'll show you a few ideas for White to avoid basic variations and keep the game more intense. Of course, in the variations under consideration it is difficult to claim an opening advantage, but they deserve serious attention.

I recommend playing 4.d3 keeping the "Spanish style". Here Black usually continues 4… Bc5. Then White can take on c6 and play in the spirit of the Bargaining Variation. Objectively, the game is equal with mutual odds. This option has been used several times by Magnus Carlsen and other famous players, so it should be taken seriously.

In the game Carlsen - Caruana, the world champion played f2-f4 after exchanging his dark-squared bishop. The result is a middlegame with opposite-colored bishops with a certain pressure on the f-file for White.

The second game was played between Yu Yangi and Kramnik. With this victory over the former world champion, Yu Yangi secured the 1st place in the Qatar Master tournament. Yu Yangi is a specialist in this variation, so you should pay attention to his games.

In conclusion, we will consider other ideas for White, for example, d3-d4 undermining in the late middlegame.

So, as you can see, White doesn't have a big opening advantage. However, the middlegame is full of pieces, the pawn structure is asymmetric and therefore there are many variations and ideas for both sides.

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• Positional play
• Offensive skills
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• Analysis of classic games
• Psychological preparation
• And much more

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Is one of the most popular openings used by grandmasters all over the world. It is characterized by complex and varied patterns. In the modern concept of an opening, a threat to a pawn is the beginning of plans in the struggle for the center and preserving the initiative. This is the most logical opening, starting with the movement of the king's pawn two squares at once.
For the first time the Spanish game was opened by the Spanish chess player Rui Lopez. And also there are references to her in the writings of Juan Lucena. In their 15-16th century interpretation, the goal of this sequence of moves was to threaten the black e5 pawn. But later the significance of this opening expanded, a large number of offshoots appeared. But the name was preserved in honor of the inventors.

All systems of the Spanish Party are divided into two groups:
Without the move 3 ... a6;
With the move 3 ... a6.

Systems without stroke 3 ... a6

Variants with the move 3 ... Сс5 and 3 ... Kge7 were used at the end of the 15th century. Later, techniques began to be used without using the a6 move. These systems gained the greatest popularity in the second half of the 19th century. Then their popularity declined, although even in our time systems without the move 3 ... a6 are quite viable.
The main options for this system:

- Berlin Defense (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Bb5 Kf6) - a stable and reliable defense. Black also has a lot of activity and a variety of plans.
- (1.e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Bb5 d6) - the e5-pawn is protected by Black. This system has retained a strong position and is still in use. Its main feature is that Black concedes the center, which entails the emergence of a structure - the white e4 pawn is against the black d6.

Systems with stroke 3 ... a6

These systems differ in a large number of strategy options and lead to meaningful competition. Moreover, these systems are very popular and are often used by many grandmasters.

- Bargaining option (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dc) - is to get the majority of pawns on the kingside, in exchange for this Black has the advantage of two bishops. The endgame of the variation has been studied much deeper than in the others.

- Open option (1.e4 e5 2.Kf3 Kc6 3.Cb5 a6 4.Ca4 Kf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4)

The pawn on e4 is beaten by Black, who is trying to create an area for unfolding the actions of his pieces. In return for this, they have a weakening of the pawn structure on the queenside, which can subsequently become a significant problem. This is a risky line in which Black cannot make mistakes and maintain balance.

- Closed systems (1.e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Cb5 a6 4. Ca4 Kf6 5. 0-0 Ce7 6. Re1 b5 7. Cb3)

In opening theory, these systems are central. Here White's strategy is vividly manifested - a solid and long-term initiative in the center of the board. White often closes the center with d5, grabs space and starts an offensive on the flank. White tries to deprive Black of the opportunity for counterplay. And Black is trying to impose counterplay in the center and on the queenside.