Bird's Defence Against the Ruy Lopez

By Marek Soszynski

Your White opponents will be booked-up on the main lines of the Ruy Lopez. How can you beat such experts? DoubleMaster and experienced chess author Marek Soszynski shows and explains to you three different variations of Bird's Defence 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4!? The first is tactical (with a kingside fianchetto) while the other two are more positional. In all of them you will reach unusual positions with special features requiring special treatments, as detailed by this book, that will leave a wrong-footed White unable to rely on all his standard Spanish Game theory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marek Soszynski
• Release date: Sep 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223886365

Book preview

Preface

My previous book, Scotch the Scotch, had a black knight swiftly on d4 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Nxd4 — the Lolli Variation) and this one has a black knight swiftly on d4 too (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 — Bird’s Defence). That’s a coincidence, but the books do both recommend lesser known, good-enough continuations for Black in order to surprise and unsettle White. And as they’re for the second player, the diagrams will have the black pieces start at the base to discourage white players (and pedants) from studying them. (Note that besides arrows on the diagrams indicating the last move played, at top right or bottom right is shown the side to move.)

While I suggest unusual lines, at the same time my analysis and coverage has to be honest and realistic. So while I do my best for the black underdog, and try to be upbeat even when neutral observers wouldn’t be, I don’t withhold or skip past awkward truths about the positions — or I hope not too often, certainly not deliberately.

The book starts with theory, i.e. briefish discussions and guidance as to what is best (for both sides) and a little analysis of what is commonly played (plus what to avoid). There are hardly any game references. Human games are imperfect to say the least and soon deviate from best play, making them irrelevant to theory — though worthy of study and instructive for other reasons, of course. The best place to analyse a game is in a dedicated section (Chapter 5) where we can follow the two erring or eccentric players wherever they take us. Grandmasters will be the least erring and eccentric of all of us chess players, but fallibly human is nevertheless what they are once the chess clocks