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White develops a bishop, gets one step closer to castling, and gives black something to worry about: At the right moment, white might be threatening to later exchange this bishop for the black knight on c6, leaving black’s e5 pawn undefended!

Bb5, the Ruy Lopez, perhaps the most well-known of the King’s Pawn Openings, is among the oldest of chess openings – it’s named after a 16 th century Spanish priest, after all!Īnd it’s still popular for a reason.

Nf3 and 2…Nc6 at the end of this section – but first, let’s take a look at how the game can proceed from the following position:

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Want to take your chess openings BEYOND the basics? Click HERE to sign up for my FREE one-week “Opening Mastery Masterclass” It’s hard to ask for more out of an opening move than this – white develops a knight, gets closer to castling kingside, and directly threatens black’s e5 pawn! 2…Nc6 is the most popular response – black defends the threat against e5 and develops a piece of his own. White usually continues with the extremely logical 2. We’ll spend a lot of time on this option, as so many opening variations split off from here!

Black ensures a stronghold for himself in the center and opens lines for his pieces to develop. This is the reply most often taught to beginners, and it’s popular all the way up to the World Championship level. Indeed, 1…e5 is good for all the same reasons that 1. We’ve talked about the advantages of white’s first move, so why should black not want to copy it? e4 e5 was by far the most common way for a game to begin.

Top chess openings