8 Best chess books to learn Ruy Lopez

Ruy Lopez is the most famous opening in chess. In Ruy Lopez, white plays 3rd move Bb5 and then try to gain an advantage This opening is very tricky for both sides as both sides get a decent position from the opening. There are lots of variations involved in Ruy Lopez. It is important to prepare atleast famous and important variations. In this article, FM Nikhil Dixit will suggest to you the 8 best books to learn Ruy Lopez. If you are a beginner or intermediate player then I will recommend you to start preparing Ruy Lopez. 

Best players who play Ruy Lopez

Almost every top player played Ruy Lopez in classical chess. Apart from top players, Ruy Lopez is famous in beginners to Grandmasters. Here are a few players who played Ruy Lopez regularly.

• Magnus Carlsen
• Viswanathan Anand
• Garry Kasparov
• Bobby Fischer
• Fabiano Caruana
• Anish Giri
• Ding Liren
• Alireza Firouzja 

8 best books to learn Ruy Lopez

Caruana’s Ruy Lopez: A White Repertoire for Club Players by Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana is a grandmaster from the United States of America. He also played the World Chess Championship in 2016 against Magnus Carlsen. Fabiano played 1.e4 and Ruy Lopez almost for a lifetime. This is one of the best books for you to understand practical as well as theoretical play in Ruy Lopez. 

A major part of this book is taken from Caruana’s Ruy Lopez DVD on the chessbase website. This book is just a part of it. If you have a budget then you can purchase that product instead of this book

Ruy Lopez: Move by Move by Neil McDonald 

Move by move is a series dedicated for beginners to 2000 players. This is one of the best series published by everyman chess which now comes under the Play Magnus group. In this book, author grandmaster Neil Mcdonald explained Ruy Lopez, in a very easy and structured manner. If you are a beginner then go for this book instead of studying Caruans’s book.

Easy Guide to the Ruy Lopez by John Emms

This book contains enough information to enable you to play the Ruy Lopez with confidence without you being flooded with extraneous detail. Grandmaster John Emms is one of the stars of English chess and shared first place in the super-strong 1997 British Championship. I will again recommend this book to unrated to 2000 players. Although this book is published in 1999, the material is still fresh and ideas can be applied in games. But, if you are only doing this book as your main repertoire, then I will recommend you to buy some latest book also or atleast add your own lines. 

Bologan’s Ruy Lopez for Black: How to Play for a Win against the Spanish Opening by Victor Bologan

Grandmaster Victor Bologan is a very strong chess player from Moldova. He has written many books as well as recorded various video series for different websites and publications. I always like the way how Bologan explains things. His teaching style is also very interesting. In this book, he explained how to tackle Ruy Lopez from black. This is the first recommendation in this article for the black side. This book mainly includes practical variations and tactical motifs in which many players can fall. I would recommend this book to everyone below 2200. 

Miniatures in the Main Line Ruy Lopez

This is not a very serious chess book to prepare Ruy Lopez. In this book, Carsten Hansen explained some famous Ruy Lopez miniatures. The book will serve equally well for the chess instructor who wants to illustrate a tactical theme, those who want inspiration for their own opening repertoire as well as those who just want some enjoyable entertainment. Honestly, I will recommend you this book if you have already some knowledge about this opening. and even you can find miniature games from the Mega database on chessbase

Starting Out: the Ruy Lopez by John Shaw

Starting out is a very famous series By everyman chess Publication. In this series mostly e authors cover fundamentals and basic knowledge of a particular opening. I will recommend this book to two players who are beginners and just want to start Ruy Lopez. Throughout the book, there is an abundance of notes, tips, warnings, and exercises to help the improving player, while key strategies, ideas, and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.

The Modernized Berlin Wall Defense by Priyadharshan Kannappan

Priyadharshan Kannappan is a Grandmaster Indian chess Grandmaster. In this book, he explained how to play Berlin Defence from the black side. Berlin Defence is one of the most popular choices against Ruy Lopez. Kramnik flats this variation against Kasparov in the world championship and because he got good results this variation become very popular. 

This is a must-have book for any serious chess player who wants to play the Berlin Defense in their future chess tournaments. The author really gave away his opening secrets in this one, which is admirable. Most authors only reveal their great ideas many years after they have become stale and played frequently.

The Modernized Ruy Lopez: A Complete Repertoire for White by Dariusz Swiercz

This book is written by a very famous Grandmaster from the United States of America Dariusz Swiercz. I would recommend this book series for every chess player who wants to prepare Ruy Lopez. In this book, you will get everything related to Ruy Lopez opening. This book covers practical as well as theoretical aspects of chess players. This book is all in one module and if you purchase this book series then you don’t need to purchase any other book. 

Read more:-

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• 4 best chess courses to learn French Defense
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• 8 Best online chess courses to learn Caro Kann Defense
• 10 Best Books to Learn King’s Indian Defense

FAQ related to Ruy Lopez

Is Ruy Lopez good for beginners?

Ruy Lopez is one of the most popular openings in the chess world. This opening is perfect for beginner players to Masters. If you are a beginner then I will recommend you to start preparing for this opening at soon as possible. if you are not planning to play this opening regularly then also I will recommend you to watch various games on Ruy Lopez. The reason behind this is, this opening covers tactical, positional, theoretical aspects of chess.

Do grandmasters play Ruy Lopez?

Yes. Almost every Grandmaster played Ruy Lopez in their chess career. you will find Ruy Lopez games of every world champion. 

Is the Ruy Lopez hard?

Yes! Ruy Lopez Involves a lot of theory. You have to learn Ruy Lopez properly to get a good result. Honestly, this opening is hard to prepare from the white side but it is more difficult to play against Roy Lopez. If you are a serious chess player then definitely this opening can help you to become a better chess player from a long-term perspective.