seeking insiteful advice

Originally posted by Kevin Mcfarland
Question for you after black plays a6 then ba4 if black playes b5 is this good for white or black and why? Thanks Kevin

Normally neither side commits on this until the last moment. The main lines of the closed defences start with: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 black leaves off playing b5 until it is neccessary, once white has secured his own e pawn with 6. Re1 black has to do something about the threat of Nxe5. It is possible to play b5 earlier as black with a perfectly reasonable game.

Originally posted by Kevin Mcfarland
Question for you after black plays a6 then ba4 if black playes b5 is this good for white or black and why? Thanks Kevin

Ideally ...b5 should be held in reserve until its needed. The point of ..a6 is to continually threaten Bxc6 and then winning Black's e-pawn, ...b5 is usually held in reserve until the threat becomes too much or Black wants to ease the tension. Otherwise all it does is chase White's bishop to a better diagonal.

Originally posted by Sicilian Smaug
White will get the better of the Ruy Lopez whatever you do.
..try
1 e4 e5
2 Nf3 Nc6
3 Bb5 a6
4 Ba4 Nf6
Cant remember if that's called the Berlin Defence or what it is.

Includes lots of variations of the Morphy defence inc. Arkangel, open, Steinitz deferred, or the main line.

Originally posted by Knightlore
Ideally ...b5 should be held in reserve until its needed. The point of ..a6 is to continually threaten Bxc6 and then winning Black's e-pawn, ...b5 is usually held in reserve until the threat becomes too much or Black wants to ease the tension. Otherwise all it does is chase White's bishop to a better diagonal.

I thought this was a better diagonal for the white side thank you very much for info Kevin

Originally posted by Kevin Mcfarland
I thought this was a better diagonal for the white side thank you very much for info Kevin

One diagonal threatens Bxc6 and Nxe5 but is limited in scope. The other is longer (hence controls more {central} squares) and targets the weak f7 pawn.

The important point was that b5 is a structural weakness that white might be able to exploit.

Originally posted by zebano
One diagonal threatens Bxc6 and Nxe5 but is limited in scope. The other is longer (hence controls more {central} squares) and targets the weak f7 pawn.

The important point was that b5 is a structural weakness that white might be able to exploit.

I totally agree and understand longer scope and f7 square as weak but b5 a structual weakness? Why? Thanks in advance Kevin

Originally posted by Kevin Mcfarland
I totally agree and understand longer scope and f7 square as weak but b5 a structual weakness? Why? Thanks in advance Kevin

Your pawn structure is perfect when they're all on their original squares. When you move pawns you create holes. As Fsicher said, though, 'to gain a square you've got to give another one away'. or something like that. Pawn structure is a complex thing, check out Pawn Power In Chess by Hans Kmoch.