Ruy Lopez 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 and White is in . After 4...dxc6, the obvious 5.Nxe5 is weak, since 5...Qd4 6.Nf3 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ leaves White with no compensation for Black's bishop pair. There are two principal lines after 4.Bxc6 dxc6. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lasker had great success with 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4. Since then, better defences for Black have been developed, and this line is considered to slightly favour Black. Jon Jacobs wrote in the July 2005 "Chess Life" (p. 21): "A database search (limited to games longer than 20 moves, both players FIDE 2300+) reveals
Roderigo Lopez Roderigo Lopez Roderigo Lopez (also called Ruy Lopes, Ruy Lopez or Roger Lopez; c. 1517 – 7 June 1594) served as physician-in-chief to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 1581 until his death by execution, having been found guilty of plotting to poison her. A Portuguese "converso" or New Christian of Jewish ancestry, he is the only royal doctor in English history to have been executed, and may have inspired the character of Shylock in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", which was written within four years of his death. The son of a Portuguese royal physician of Jewish descent, Lopez