Ruy López Opening: Classical Defense

One of the oldest defenses against the Ruy Lopez - Black develops the bishop to a diagonal which is typical of the Italian Game. He delays the development of the king's-knight, and might end up using this to play ...Nge7, ...Qf6, or ...f5.

Pros:

• The bishop aims at f2
• The f-pawn and d8-h4 diagonal (for the queen) are left unblocked
• Black develops rapidly

Cons:

• The bishop can be attacked by c3 and d4
• The 'fork trick' (Nxe5 Nxe5 d4) becomes possible
• The bishop leaves the black kingside with less defenders