REASON NUMBER 10 - "Why YOU should play the RUY LOPEZ as WHITE!" by Coach Sean Tobin.

I will be doing my "TOP TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD PLAY THE RUY LOPEZ AS WHITE" postings for the next couple of weeks. This is aimed at some of my private students who may not be totally convinced by Coach Sean's faith in this opening. So to help calm everyone down a bit I will be presenting games where WHITE WINS!

There are three stages to a game of chess - the OPENING, MIDDLEGAME and ENDGAME. We can play the opening brilliantly - and still lose. That is why we work on all aspects of our game - the many facets. The opening is important - but it is only one of the many facets of chess and there are many things we must look at to improve as chess players. - Coach Sean.

Another reason why you - my students - should play this opening is... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... because I have played it in both over the board (OTB for short) and in correspondence Chess games. So I do know at least a little bit of something about this opening!

In this correspondence game you will see how Coach Sean handled the feared MARSHALL GAMBIT - a variation that features the most sound gambit ever devised. Enjoy the game! - Coach Sean.

The moral of the game above could be - Take the pawn, hold onto it, fend off the attack and then he who has the most pawns in the endgame will have the most fun! My opponent resigned as he is too many pawns down to continue the fight effectively. This was actually an interesting decision on his part. If this were an OTB game (Remember what that stands for?) then he would not resign and would show his fighting spirit by trying to throw as many obstacles between me and victory as he could. Maybe even earn a cheapo win or draw - perhaps even tricking me into a stalemate. He resigned because this was a Correspondence game - for which I would have days to look at each position before deciding upon my next move thus reducing the likelyhood of a blunder. So he resigned this game. But we never resign games in Scholastic Chess Tournaments! We always play on - because some of your opponent's will make mistakes that you will be able to take advantage of. This is why we must all have "Fighting Spirit" whenever we play chess. We never give up! - Coach Sean Tobin.