SC Week 7/2: The Ruy Lopez - a case study (Space)

 "Black’s position has sufficient 'capacity' for three minor pieces, but not clearly enough for all four of them. This explains why White is willing to invest so much time early in the game (Bb4-a4-b3-c2, h3) purely to avoid exchanges."

Michael Stean

At this point in the chapter, Stean takes a break to explain the principles of space using the - then - main line of the Spanish/Ruy Lopez as an example.

He doesn’t give a whole game, but Karpov - Unzicker from Nice 1974 would have been a very good choice.

It’s a famous game - usually given for the striking 24 Ba7 manoeuvre by which Karpov builds up on the a-file. The point for Chapter 7 is that it’s a great example of the side with more space avoiding piece exchanges. Only one pair of pieces leaves the board in the whole game. And that at move 41, just three moves before Black resigned.

It's curious that none of the games that Stean chooses to demonstrate Space is a Pirc-Modern. Opening with an early ... g6 against more or less anything was very popular back in the 70s and 80s  - especially amongst the leading English players - but it's pretty much disappeared from top level chess these days. Mainly down to the different understanding of space and the engines' distaste for set-ups that allow White to take as much of it as s/he likes.