The Ruy Lopez Revisited - Ivan Sokolov

The Ruy Lopez Revisited contains, among MANY other things, in-depth but highly accessible analysis of the Jaenisch Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5.

Vassily Ivanchuk played this gambit successfully against world champion Viswanathan Anand in the third round of the 4th Grand Slam Masters Final, held in Sao Paulo, in September 2011.

Ivan Sokolov:
"The Jaenisch should appeal to any black player who is looking for trouble at an early stage of the game. There are many dynamic ideas and still many lines to explore. I personally support Black's cause and I think the Jaenisch is a fully fledged variation."

The Ruy Lopez (or Spanish Opening) is one of the most important and oldest chess openings, forever popular with amateurs as well as professional players.

In this ground-breaking book, one of today’s greatest Ruy Lopez experts, Ivan Sokolov, presents a practical opening guide with a wide repertoire for black players who want to play for a win.

Besides the Jaenisch this book brings you:

· the Delayed Jaenisch: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 f5

· the Cozio Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Ne7

· the Smyslov Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6

· the Bird Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4

· the Classical Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 bc5

The lines Sokolov presents are always dynamic and sometimes quite offbeat. But he has played most of them himself on numerous occasions, even against the strongest opponents.

Many of these lines turn out to be stronger than their reputation suggests, but Sokolov always remains an objective analyst. As well as numerous improvements for Black, the book also contains some crushing novelties for White!

Ivan Sokolov is a top grandmaster who was born in Bosnia in 1968. He was Yugoslav champion in 1988 and Dutch champion in 1995 and 1998. In his rich career Sokolov has beaten world chess champions like Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik as well as Viswanathan Anand.