Caruana's Ruy Lopez

The Ruy Lopez is arguably the most classic of chess openings. White immediately starts the battle for the centre, fighting for the initiative. This strategic clarity has made the Ruy Lopez, or Spanish Opening, an eternal favourite with chess players at all levels. Inevitably, this popularity has also led to a wealth of opening theory.

In this book, Fabiano Caruana takes you by the hand and lays out a complete and practical White repertoire for club players. He avoids complicated chaotic lines, but doesn’t shy away from sharp battles. Caruana loves to find and use the tactics to punish Black for risky choices.

This one-volume and crystal-clear repertoire covers fifteen main variations, from the classical lines to the anti-Marshall (8.a4), and from the Schliemann (3…f5) to the Modern Steinitz. In an easy-to-grasp manner Caruana explains general characteristics, such as permanent weaknesses long-term goals, and is always looking for an advantage for White.

The insights of the World #2 in this classic opening, will not only greatly improve your results in the Ruy Lopez, but also sharpen your general chess knowledge. Inspired by Caruana’s ChessBase Series Navigating the Ruy Lopez.

Fabiano Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14. Ever since his majestic tournament win at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, he has been the undisputed #2 in the Chess world. In 2018 he earned the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen in a match for the World Championship and only narrowly lost in the play-off.

“The Ruy Lopez, noted for its complexity and body of theory, has the potential to lose the amateur player in a maze of variations. Caruana makes sure this does not happen, but also doesn’t dumb down the material. A great book and one hopes for future works of this nature by the author. His ability to succinctly explain complex ideas in simple terms will ensure that this book is useful long after specific lines pass their sell date.” -- IM John Donaldson

“Caruana explains instructively the typical features of the positions, with a focus on your opponents’ weaknesses and the best way to position your pieces.” -- IM Herman Grooten, Schaaksite

“The author’s ability to put together an opening repertoire for White in a little over two hundred pages is remarkable. In this book, Caruana shows both a high degree of proficiency in one of the oldest chess openings and an unusual understanding of the needs of club players. A must-read for any club player eager to play the Roll Royce of chess openings, The Ruy Lopez.” -- Miguel Ararat, Florida Chess Quarterly

“Caruana’s first venture into writing yields a comprehensive repertoire for the white side of the Ruy Lopez with much material for anyone playing the black side.” -- Colin Lyne, British Chess News

“I found Caruana’s way of pointing out the logic and general reasoning behind the various choices highly instructive. An ideal way for an up-and-coming player to get to grips with the white side of the Spanish. There can be no better training tool for someone who wants to take up 3.Bb5, but who can’t face the prospect of sifting through myriads of plausible but messy variations. Here an elite player has done most of the work already and has tested his ideas at the highest level!” -- GM Glenn Flear

“Don’t be deterred by the author’s strength as a player: this book is very well understandable for someone who is ranked a thousand Elopoints (or a little less) below Caruana.” -- Florian Jacobs, Max Euwe Center Amsterda

“Fabiano Caruana, like the late Bobby Fischer, has the ability to make complex material accessible to a wide audience, something not common for an elite player. This comes through in this book as the Ruy Lopez, noted for its complexity and body of theory, has the potential to lose the amateur player in a maze of variations. Caruana makes sure this does not happen, but also doesn’t dumb down the material. He does this partly by carefully selecting his variations (avoiding the Marshall and main lines of the Berlin) but primarily by his informal yet highly informative commentary. A great book and one hopes for future works of this nature by the author. His ability to succinctly explain complex ideas in simple terms will ensure that this book is useful long after specific lines pass their sell date.” -- IM John Donaldson

“The White repertoire that Caruana presents has fifteen main variations. Caruana explains instructively the typical features of the positions, with a focus on your opponents’ weaknesses and the way to best position your pieces.” -- IM Herman Grooten, Schaaksite

“The author’s ability to put together an opening repertoire for White in a little over two hundred pages is remarkable. In this book, Caruana shows both a high degree of proficiency in one of the oldest chess openings and an unusual understanding of the needs of club players. A must-read for any club player eager to play the Roll Royce of chess openings, The Ruy Lopez.” -- Miguel Ararat, Florida Chess Quarterly

“Caruana’s first venture into writing yields a comprehensive repertoire for the white side of the Ruy Lopez with much material for anyone playing the black side.” -- Colin Lyne, British Chess News

“I found Caruana’s way of pointing out the logic and general reasoning behind the various choices highly instructive. Descriptions are long and lucid, with the author showing the patience to explain the choices in a manner that will indeed suit those who want a shining light rather than a fog of variations. An ideal way for an up-and-coming player to get to grips with the white side of the Spanish. There can be no better training tool for someone who wants to take up 3.Bb5, but who can’t face the prospect of sifting through myriads of plausible but messy variations. Here an elite player has done most of the work already and has tested his ideas at the highest level!” -- GM Glenn Flear, New In Chess Yearbook