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Marshall Attack (Ruy Lopez)
In the closed Ruy Lopez, Black plays ...d5 and gives up the e5 pawn. In return Black gets a long-lasting attack against White's castled king.
The idea
In the closed Ruy Lopez, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 Black plays 8…d5, giving up the e5 pawn. After 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 Black's bishops and queen turn on White's kingside, with …Bd6, …Qh4 and …Bg4 as the standard ideas. Frank Marshall unveiled it against Capablanca in 1918.
What happens next
Black's attack runs on autopilot for a while: …Bd6, …Qh4, …Bg4 or …Bf5, and …Rae8. The rook on e5 is harassed and White's king gets short of defenders. If White survives, Black often has a drawn ending because of the active pieces.
How to play against it
White's main defence is 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Be3 or 15.Re4, giving the pawn back for a solid position. Many players simply avoid it with 8.a4 or 8.h3 (the Anti-Marshall) rather than face the preparation.
A key line
More lines
Marshall Attack, main line
Marshall Attack, 12.d4
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All 3 lines in this gambit
- Marshall Attack (Ruy Lopez)
- Marshall Attack, main line
- Marshall Attack, 12.d4