Here's a game that I recently finished using the Ruy Lopez Schliemann variation. As you'll be able to clearly see I went up a piece in the opening because of some missteps from white (Notable is 7.Qh5 instead of 7.Ng4). After this advantage white pressed on and managed to regain some material, only to find himself in a losing position...
Originally posted by UnderPromote Here's a game that I recently finished using the Ruy Lopez Schliemann variation. As you'll be able to clearly see I went up a piece in the opening because of some missteps from white (Notable is 7.Qh5 instead of 7.Ng4). After this advantage white pressed on and managed to regain some material, only to find himself in a losing position...
[gid]88338 ions later if I get the chance and there seems to be some interest.
Originally posted by UnderPromote Here's a game that I recently finished using the Ruy Lopez Schliemann variation. As you'll be able to clearly see I went up a piece in the opening because of some missteps from white (Notable is 7.Qh5 instead of 7.Ng4). After this advantage white pressed on and managed to regain some material, only to find himself in a losing position...
[gid]88338 ions later if I get the chance and there seems to be some interest.
Well there was hardly any interest, but one person did mention wanting to see some annotations so I wrote in some quick notes. I apologize for their lack of depth but I couldn't justify doing much more with such seemingly little interest:
1. e4 {White begins with e4. I had previously used the Sicilian as my main weapon against this move but I have recently began to respond with e5.} e5 {Which is what I chose to employ in this game...} 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1b5 {And white has entered the Ruy Lopez, which was the variation that I hoped to reach by playing 1...e5.} f5 {This is the Schliemann variation of the Ruy Lopez, and as you might guess it is extremely sharp. A glance at spidey's profile revealed that he was yet to lose a game on here so I was a bit nervous about entering such a sharp variation, but it is the opening I have recently been hoping to master so I went ahead with the move.} 4. Bb5xc6 {Not an uncommon move, but certainly not the most popular nor trying move which would belong to 4.Nc3.} dxc6 5. O-O fxe4 6. Nf3xe5 Qd8d4 {These were all book moves on my end, 6 moves in and black's center appears crushed, he's behind in development, and his queen is sitting on d4 already...Yet this position is actually fine for black as far as I can tell.} 7. Qd1h5 {? Novelty. I've given this move a "?" because I think that this novelty caused white some serious problems. I would have to argue that it is the most natural looking move but I believe black is actual able to defend quite well from this position.} g6 {I really can't imagine black trying anything else here.} 8. Qh5g5 Bf8e7 9. Qg5f4 Bc8f5 {And suddenly things look quite comfortable for black who is now leading in development, is putting some real pressure on the e5 knight, and has a safe queenside on which to castle.} 10. d3 {White can try other moves here but from my in game analysis I concluded that things inevitably look pretty bleak.} Be7d6 11. c3 Qd4xe5 12. Qf4xe5 Bd6xe5 {And the Schliemann proves its devastating sharpness. Only 12 moves in and with white playing seemingly natural moves black has managed to pick up a piece and has a huge lead in development. It seems now that black should pick up the full point quite soon.} 13. dxe4 Bf5d7 {Naturally, black can't take the pawn because of the threat of Re1 regaining the lost material.} 14. f4 Be5d6 15. Bc1e3 Ng8h6 16. f5 Nh6g4 17. Be3d4 {? I think this is a serious mistake for white. 17.Bf4 Bxf4 18.Rxf4 gxf5 19.exf5 Nf6 should certainly offer better chances than the very suspect 17.Bd4 which is easily defended.} Bd6xh2 18. Kg1h1 Bh2e5 19. Bd4xe5 Ng4xe5 20. f6 Bd7e6 21. Nb1d2 Rh8f8 22. Nd2f3 Ne5g4 {I still remain unsure of this move. From this point white manages to get some very serious counterplay, and I am unable to identify where black may have misstepped aside from this move. I am forced to conclude that black should have simply exchanged knights here, but I still haven't analyzed a line showing that this is superior.} 23. e5 Be6d5 24. Ra1e1 Bd5xf3 25. Rf1xf3 {I am also now under the impression that taking the light squared bishop off the board may have also led to more trouble for black. Looking at the board now it becomes apparent that white is gaining serious compensation for his lost material in the form of the connected passed pawns on e5 and f6.} O-O-O 26. f7 Rd8d7 27. e6 Rd7e7 28. Rf3f4 h5 {This knight proves essential to black's defense, keeping it close to the center of the board is imperative for black to defend this strong attack from white.} 29. Rf4d4 Ng4f6 30. Re1d1 Nf6d5 {And black is forced to sacrifice the knight. Any other move allows white to either mate or queen a pawn.} 31. c4 Re7xe6 32. cxd5 cxd5 33. Rd4xd5 Re6f6 34. Rd5a5 a6 35. Ra5g5 Rf8xf7 {And this is now a won position for black. The effects of white's poor 17.Bd4? are now seen, if white had instead opted for 17.Bf4 things could have perhaps been different because rook and pawn endgames are very often drawn even when there is a one pawn imbalance.} 36. Rg5e5 {From here this game is simply a matter of technique...} Rf6f1 37. Rd1xf1 Rf7xf1 38. Kh1h2 Rf1f2 39. Re5g5 Rf2xb2 40. Rg5xg6 Rb2xa2 41. Rg6g5 b5 42. Rg5xh5 b4 43. Rh5h3 a5 44. Rh3b3 c5 45. Kh2h3 c4 46. Rb3b1 c3 47. g4 c2 48. Rb1c1 b3 49. g5 b2 50. Rc1xc2 Kc8d7 51. g6 b1=Q 52. g7 Qb1f1 53. Kh3g3 Qf1g1 54. Kg3f4 Ra2xc2 55. g8=B {!! I have to respect the underpromotion here.} Qg1xg8 56. Kf4e4 Qg8e6 57. Ke4f3 Rc2c5 58. Kf3f4 Rc5f5 59. Kf4g4 Qe6g6 60. Kg4h4 Rf5h5 0-1
I forgot to add that instead of white's 7.Qh5+? Novelty he should perhaps have tried 7.Ng4 which is what my database recommends.
I wouldn't have played 7. Qh5+ without planning to follow up with 8. Nxg6. It doesn't win a rook as normal for this structure because of the black queen on e5 but it destroys Black's king side pawns and prevents castling and - if White can survive any immediate king side attack - creates a very interesting and imbalanced game.
Recent Ruy Lopez Schliemann
11 Nov '11 19:562 edits
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