The Ruy-Lopez is one of the most famous and earliest documented chess openings, it is named after a 16th century catholic priest, Ruy Lopez de Segura who was a born native to Segura de León, a town in Extremadura, Spain. In 1561 Ruy Lopez published his treatise, which was one of the first books on modern chess in Europe. Ruy López has been described as the "father of opening theory". Padre Lopez was in all likelihood the strongest player in Spain, and possibly Italy, for about twenty years. During the 1500s the strongest players of modern chess theory lived in Italy and Iberia. López is believed to have easily beaten the most skilled Italian or Iberian players deserving the title of world champion, however that title did not exist until the late nineteenth century. Due to the difficulty for Black in achieving equality, a common nickname for the opening is "The Spanish Torture".
Ruy Lopez - Introduction
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Ruy Lopez - Morphy defence
The mainline of the 'Ruy Lopez' is more commonly referred to as the Morphy defence, after Paul Morphy an American chess prodigy who was most likely the world's greatest chess master at the time, and quite possibly even to date. Paul at 20 years old dominated the American chess scene, after which he travelled to Europe and crushed all of the European greats of his era, including the German Adolf Anderssen. Despite the fact that by 21 he was widely considered the world's greatest chess master, much like Bobby Fischer, he was unfortunetly considered a mentally unsound, yet highly intelligent individual. In 1875, his mother and brother attempted to admit him to a Catholic sanitarium, however Paul being well versed in law, coupled with his intelligence, was able to argue his rights and sanity. Morphy has been called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess".
Ruy Lopez - Morphy defence
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Ruy Lopez - Archangel defence
The Arkhangelsk Defence (or Archangel Defence) was popularized by Soviet players from the city of Arkhangelsk, such as grand master Vladimir Malaniuk. This variation often leads to sharp positions in which Black wagers that the fianchettoed bishop's influence on the centre and kingside will offset Black's delay in castling. White has several options, including attempting to build an ideal pawn centre with c3 and d4, defending the e-pawn with Re1 or simply developing.
