The Ruy Lopez is a hugely popular opening, and anyone who plays 1 e4 e5 as Black needs to have a reliable answer ready. This book provides a solution.

Drawing upon his years of experience facing the Lopez, Grandmaster Milos Pavlovic devises a sound yet ambitious repertoire for Black based on the legendary Marshall Attack. The Marshall is a perfect counter-attacking weapon, as it avoids passive positions and the so-called 'Spanish torture'. Furthermore, Black's tactical and positional goals are usually clear-cut and often involve a direct attack against White's king. The effectiveness of the Marshall is clear if you consider that the last two world champions have both suffered crushing defeats on the white side (Kramnik vs Leko, Brissago 2004; Anand vs Aronian, Morelia 2008) whilst Garry Kasparov always avoided it with White.

• A Grandmaster's repertoire against the Ruy Lopez
• Highlights the typical plans for both sides
• Full of original ideas and analysis

Preface

There are two major openings named after Frank Marshall: the Marshall Gambit in the Semi-Slav (1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c6 4 e4); and the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez, which is the main subject of this book. The fact that these are arguably the only real gambits in chess which are recognized as correct, and have stood the test of time, is some proof of his considerable talent. In modern chess the Marshall At­tack is considered to be a reliable choice and is used by many top players against 1 e4. I began playing the Marshall Attack in the 1980s and it has brought me many wins and very few losses. In one tournament it helped me to score my final Grandmaster norm, and I've continued to use it since then.

Throughout this book I've tried to remain objective, despite my recommenda­tions being for those playing Black, because I strongly believe that only through objectivity can a chess book reach a serious level.

The Marshall Attack is an opening which raises an infinite number of ques­tions, and it would be foolish to suggest that this book could supply all the an­swers. Don't expect to find instant solutions inside a book - amongst other things chess is a process of continual learning. This book is intended to provide discus­sion about the rich possibilities in the Marshall Attack; to provide some answers and to raise some further questions. I do hope that it will help players improve their skills and knowledge of the Marshall Attack, the Ruy Lopez, and of course chess in general.

I want to express my gratitude to my aunt Angelina, who bought me my first chess set when I was eight years old.

Finally, special thanks to Jovanka Houska for her help with this project.

Milos Pavlovic

Belgrade, April 2009

Content:
005 Preface

007 Introduction: The Ideas Behind the Marshall Attack

Part One: Gambit Lines

015 1 - The Main Line

026 2 - The Modern Rook Shuffle: 15 Re4

040 3 - The Mysterious Retreat: 13 Re2

045 4 - The Kevitz Variation: 12 Bxd5 cxd5 13 d4

049 5 - The Dangerous 12 d3

064 6 - The Tricky 12 g3

069 7 - Declining the Marshall

Part Two: Anti-Marshall Lines

075 8 - The 8 h3 Anti-Marshall

096 9 - The 8 a4 Anti-Marshall

107 10 - The 8 d4 Anti-Marshall

119 11 - The Steinitz Variation: 8 d3

Part Three: Other Lines

130 12 - The Worrall Attack

137 13 - The Delayed Exchange Variation

144 14 - Early d4 and Nc3 Variations

156 15 - The Exchange Variation

168 Index of Variations