Subscribe

Ruy Lopez: Møller Defence

Perez–Adhiban, TCh-ESP Div Honor 2016 · Vachier-Lagrave–Caruana, Croatia GCT 2019 · 6:14 · ECO C78

Open on YouTube ↗

In this video

Game 1: Leinier Dominguez Perez (2720) vs Baskaran Adhiban (2671)

TCh-ESP Div Honor 2016, 28 September 2016 · White won (1-0) · 39 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.

Key moments

  1. 6.Bxc6The first move after the opening line0:29
  2. 21.Nf3The evaluation moves from +1.32 to −0.281:34
  3. 23...Bd6White stays more than two pawns ahead from here1:46
  4. 24...Qc8The evaluation moves from +2.48 to +4.111:52
  5. 26...Ne6The evaluation moves from +4.39 to +9.452:02
  6. 39.Rg1White wins after 39 moves3:04

Evaluation

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

Game 2: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2779) vs Fabiano Caruana (2819)

Croatia GCT 2019, 1 July 2019 · Black won (0-1) · 37 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.

Key moments

  1. 6.c3The first move after the opening line3:32
  2. 32.Rxe1The evaluation moves from −0.72 to −2.58, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here5:32
  3. 34.Qg2The evaluation moves from −2.67 to −4.315:42
  4. 36.h3The evaluation moves from −4.88 to −7.905:52
  5. 37...Rf1+Black wins after 37 moves6:00

Evaluation

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

About these games

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O, Black places the bishop on c5 at once instead of the usual ...Be7, aiming it at f2 and keeping the option of ...b5 and ...d6. White can build up slowly or prepare c3 and d4 to blunt the bishop. A common alternative is to take on c6, which leaves Black with doubled c-pawns.

Dominguez Perez–Adhiban went 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3, a quiet set-up in which White regrouped with Nc4, Kh1 and Bc3 while Black played ...c5, ...b6 and ...Bb7. The game was level at 15...Nf8 (+0.01). White then played f4, and at 20...Kh8 the score was +1.32. After 21.Nf3 the engine gave −0.28, but once 23...Bd6 was played White stayed more than two pawns ahead. After 24...Qc8 the score rose from +2.48 to +4.11. Then 27.Bxf6 Bf8 took it to +9.40, and the rook sacrifice 28.Rxg7 broke open Black's king. White won with 39.Rg1.

Vachier-Lagrave–Caruana followed the main line 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4. Here Black played actively instead of defending: ...h6 and ...g5 gained space on the kingside, and 20...Bxb4 gave up a piece for pawns in the centre (−0.39). The central pawns advanced with ...e4 and ...e3. After 30...Nf3 the score was −1.04, and from 32.Rxe1 Black stayed more than two pawns ahead. The score reached −4.31 after 34.Qg2 and −7.90 after 36.h3, and Black won with 37...Rf1+. Game 1 was decided by a White attack against a damaged Black structure. In Game 2, Black kept the structure intact and the bishop led the attack.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Dominguez Perez vs Adhiban, TCh-ESP Div Honor 2016
  3. 3:13Game 2: Vachier-Lagrave vs Caruana, Croatia GCT 2019

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5

See every video from this position →