Ruy Lopez Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish bishop Ruy López de Segura. It is one of the most popular openings, with such a vast number of variations that in the "Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings" ("ECO") all codes from C60 to C99 are assigned to them. The opening is named after the 16th-century Spanish bishop Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess "Libro del
Ruy Lopez careful play White is held to gain an advantage. The best moves are 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O Bc5 6.d3 c6 7.Ba4 Ne7. This defence was published in 1843 in Paul Rudolf von Bilguer's "Handbuch des Schachspiels" and explored by Henry Bird in the late 19th century. Bird played it as Black at least 25 times, scoring +9 =3 −13 (nine wins, three draws, thirteen losses). Bird's Defence was later used a few times in tournament play by Siegbert Tarrasch, Boris Spassky, and Alexander Khalifman. Although it is still sometimes seen as a surprise weapon, no strong master since Bird has adopted