Subscribe

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Variation — Part 1 of 2

Fischer–Spassky, St Stefan/Belgrade 1992 · Karjakin–Carlsen, Supreme Masters 2013 · 7:54 · ECO C95

Open on YouTube ↗

In this video

Game 1: Robert Fischer (2785) vs Boris Spassky (2560)

St Stefan/Belgrade 1992 · White won (1-0) · 50 moves

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

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.
  31. 31.
  32. 32.
  33. 33.
  34. 34.
  35. 35.
  36. 36.
  37. 37.
  38. 38.
  39. 39.
  40. 40.
  41. 41.
  42. 42.
  43. 43.
  44. 44.
  45. 45.
  46. 46.
  47. 47.
  48. 48.
  49. 49.
  50. 50.

Key moments

  1. 10.d4The first move after the opening line0:41
  2. 42.Nf5The evaluation moves from +2.63 to +1.603:19
  3. 44...Qe1+The evaluation moves from +1.26 to +3.02, and White stays more than two pawns ahead from here3:32
  4. 49...Ne6The evaluation moves from +6.29 to +8.773:56
  5. 50.Qe5White wins after 50 moves3:59

Evaluation

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

Game 2: Sergey Karjakin (2767) vs Magnus Carlsen (2868)

Supreme Masters 2013, 13 May 2013 · Black won (0-1) · 46 moves

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

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.
  31. 31.
  32. 32.
  33. 33.
  34. 34.
  35. 35.
  36. 36.
  37. 37.
  38. 38.
  39. 39.
  40. 40.
  41. 41.
  42. 42.
  43. 43.
  44. 44.
  45. 45.
  46. 46.

Key moments

  1. 10.d4The first move after the opening line4:40
  2. 29.Bc2The evaluation moves from +1.18 to +0.016:12
  3. 39.Rg1The evaluation moves from −1.40 to −4.99, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here7:02
  4. 46...Qc7The evaluation moves from −6.68 to −10.007:40
  5. 46...Qc7Black wins after 46 moves7:40

Evaluation

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

About these games

Black's ninth move retreats the knight from c6 to b8 so that it can come back via d7. That frees the c-pawn, opens the long diagonal for a bishop on b7 and adds support to e5. White builds the d4 centre and regroups the queen's knight, and the play turns on whether White closes the centre with d5 or keeps the tension.

Fischer–Spassky, St Stefan/Belgrade 1992, followed the classical route 13.Nf1 and 14.Ng3, and Black answered with 14...g6 and ...Bg7. After 17.a4 c5 18.d5 c4 the centre was locked and White took over the a-file with 22.Ra3, 23.Rea1, 24.R1a2 and 26.Qa1. Black's piece sacrifice 29...Nxe4 left the score at +2.24. The game opened up on both wings, and from 44...Qe1+ (+3.02) White stayed more than two pawns ahead. After 45...Bd5+ the score rose from +2.70 to +4.14, and after 49...Ne6 it rose from +6.29 to +8.77. White won after 50.Qe5.

Karjakin–Carlsen, Supreme Masters 2013, chose 13.a4 and 14.Bd3 instead of the knight manoeuvre. Here the centre opened with 20.c4 bxc4 and 23.dxe5 dxe5, and the scores stayed near level, +0.23 at 29...Rae8. Black's pieces became active behind the queenside pawns ...c5 and ...c4, and 33...Nxf4 broke open White's kingside. The score was −0.83 at 34...Nxg6. After 39.Rg1 it fell from −1.40 to −4.99, and after 46...Qc7 it fell from −6.68 to −10.00. Black won.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Fischer vs Spassky, St Stefan/Belgrade 1992
  3. 4:08Game 2: Karjakin vs Carlsen, Supreme Masters 2013

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8

See every video from this position →