GM Fabiano Caruana – Navigating the Ruy Lopez Volume 2 Against Black’s Most Solid Defences

ChessBase lists this volume as covering “Open and Berlin lines”: the Modern Arkhangelsk, the Open Ruy Lopez, the Berlin with 4…Nxe4 and the Averbakh. These are the lines top players choose when they want a sound, direct game with Black, and they are the lines where White most often ends up with nothing. Caruana knows them from the inside. He has played the Open with both colours after spending a huge amount of time hunting for ideas against it with White, and he has a long Berlin record from both sides.

That experience shapes the advice. Against the Berlin he explains the famous endgame in a full introduction, admits “I also became disillusioned with it at some point,” and then recommends 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1, a line that keeps more pieces and more imbalance on the board. The closed main lines are in Volume 1 and the third-move sidelines in Volume 3. Browse more opening courses in the Chess Courses category.

Inside Caruana Ruy Lopez Volume 2: Four Defences

The Open Ruy Lopez: 9.Qe2 and pressure on d5

After 5…Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 Caruana chooses 9.Qe2, followed by Rd1 and, where possible, c4 to break open the centre against the pinned d5-pawn. Two lessons split the play by 9…Nc5 and 9…Be7. You see his own games against Anish Giri, a later Ding Liren game (Ding had Black) built around Rd2 and Rad1 against d5, and why the knight on c6 so often has nowhere good to go. The introduction to this chapter also contains a line every repertoire builder should remember:

The Berlin: the endgame explained, the Re1 line recommended

The 21-minute Berlin introduction is a small course of its own. Caruana explains why the endgame after 5.d4 is so hard to beat — and why it is uncomfortable for Black: “It feels very dangerous because your king is in the center.” He recalls repeating one h3/…h5 position against Karjakin five or six times, mentions the Vachier-Lagrave–Karjakin game that was home analysis until move 40, and shows his game against Michael Adams as a model of natural endgame pressure.

Then five lessons build the main weapon, 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1. Black can keep knights with 7…Nf5, reaching a Petroff-like symmetrical structure where the c6-knight is misplaced and White owns the e-file, or trade with 7…Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4. From there you get 9…Ne8, 9…Bf6 10.Re1 Nf5 and the main line 10…Re8 11.c3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1, with a Carlsen–Aronian game that Caruana calls “almost a perfect game” along the way. Against 12…Ne8 Caruana skips “the boring theory” of a well-known drawing line and proposes a fresh plan: push d4–d5 and take the space, as Giri did against him at the Olympiad. If you would rather sidestep 4…Nxe4 completely, compare GM Alexei Shirov’s Beating the Berlin Defense.

Modern Arkhangelsk: punishing the active bishop

The bishop on c5 is more active than on e7, but Caruana’s point is that it “runs into c3 d4”: White gains a tempo in the centre. After 7.c3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.Be3 0-0 10.Nbd2 three lessons cover 10…Bg4, 10…Bb7 and the …h6/…Re8 set-ups. Key ideas include overprotecting e4 with Bc2 before playing d5, and recognising when Black’s counter with …Nb4 and …c5 lands him in what the coaches jokingly call a “problematic Benoni.”

Averbakh: keeping the repertoire consistent

The final theory lesson meets 5…Be7 6.Re1 d6 by exchanging on c6 first and only then playing d4. Caruana chose it so that the resulting positions match the Steinitz-type structures he recommends in Volume 3 — one of several places where the three volumes are designed to fit together.

Caruana Ruy Lopez Volume 2: Full Course Index

Is Caruana Ruy Lopez Volume 2 Right for You?

• Ruy Lopez players who keep meeting the Berlin and want a fighting alternative to the endgame that still respects Black’s resources.
• White players who face the Open Spanish and need one clear system (9.Qe2 with Rd1) rather than five half-learned ones.
• Club and tournament players facing 6…Bc5 who want to know how to exploit the bishop’s exposure with c3–d4 and Be3.
• Berlin and Open players with Black who want to see their opening through the eyes of a top-level opponent.

It is not a Black repertoire. If you want to play the Berlin yourself, GM Sam Shankland’s Berlin Defense is the better fit.

FAQ

Does Caruana recommend the Berlin endgame with 5.d4?

No. The introduction explains the endgame, its plans and its theory, but the repertoire is 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1, covered in five separate lessons.

Which version of the Open Ruy Lopez is covered?

The main line 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 with 9.Qe2, against both 9…Nc5 and 9…Be7.

How is Volume 2 different from the other volumes?

Volume 1 covers the closed Spanish after 7.Bb3 (Anti-Marshall, Chigorin, Breyer, Zaitsev); Volume 3 covers Black’s third- and fourth-move alternatives. Caruana Ruy Lopez Volume 2 handles the defences in between. All three are also sold together as the Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol. 1–3 bundle.

What do I receive, and how is it delivered?

Caruana Ruy Lopez Volume 2 comes as the ChessBase Fritz Trainer app with HD videos, compact MP4 copies of every lesson and PGN/ChessBase databases. Digital files. Crypto payment only. Fast delivery is handled manually after payment confirmation. Download links remain available for 7 days; save your files locally.