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Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence, 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 — Part 1 of 2

McShane–Carlsen, 4th London Chess Classic 2012 · Nepomniachtchi–Kramnik, Tata Steel Masters 2019 · 8:04 · ECO C67

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In this video

Game 1: Luke McShane (2713) vs Magnus Carlsen (2848)

4th London Chess Classic 2012, 1 December 2012 · Black won (0-1) · 62 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 7.Bf1The first move after the opening line0:32
  2. 27.Kh1The evaluation moves from +1.68 to +0.082:04
  3. 51.Kd2The evaluation moves from −0.80 to −2.26, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here4:04
  4. 57.Qd8The evaluation moves from −2.62 to −6.094:34
  5. 62...g2Black wins after 62 moves5:02

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Ian Nepomniachtchi (2763) vs Vladimir Kramnik (2777)

Tata Steel Masters 2019, 14 January 2019 · White won (1-0) · 36 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 7.Bf1The first move after the opening line5:33
  2. 33...g6The evaluation moves from +1.17 to +4.26, and White stays more than two pawns ahead from here7:38
  3. 35...axb4The evaluation moves from +5.06 to +8.177:48
  4. 36.Be5White wins after 36 moves7:50

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

After 4...Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7, White has regained the pawn and Black's knight has retreated to d6, where it blocks the d-pawn. White's usual next move is 7.Bf1, keeping the bishop and the pressure on the open e-file. Black aims to castle, regroup the d6-knight and free the position with ...d5 or ...Re8. The result is a symmetrical, open structure where White's lead is small.

McShane–Carlsen met 7.Bf1 with 7...Nf5 8.Nf3 O-O 9.d4 d5, giving identical pawn chains. The rooks came off on e8 at move 12. White then gained space with g4 and g5, and the score reached +1.68 after 26...Qd6. After 27.Kh1 it fell to +0.08: Black answered 27...Nxg5 28.Bxg5 f6 29.Bxf6 Qxf6 and won back the material. After 38...Nxe3+ 39.fxe3 the game became a queen-and-knight against queen-and-bishop ending. Carlsen's king walked to h4 and g3, and 51.Kd2 moved the evaluation from −0.80 to −2.26. Then 57.Qd8 took it from −2.62 to −6.09. Black took the h-pawn with 58...Kxh3, the g-pawn ran to g2 at move 62, and Black won.

Nepomniachtchi–Kramnik followed the main line 7...Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.d4 Bf6. White did not keep a symmetrical centre: 13.d5 and 16.c4 gained space. After 20...Bxc3 21.bxc3, White held both bishops. The edge grew to +1.40 by 31...Bc4. Following 33...g6 the score jumped from +1.17 to +4.26, and after 35...axb4 it went from +5.06 to +8.17. White won after 36.Be5.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: McShane vs Carlsen, 4th London Chess Classic 2012
  3. 5:10Game 2: Nepomniachtchi vs Kramnik, Tata Steel Masters 2019

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7

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