#marshall attack

The Marshall Attack is one of the most aggressive ways to fight the Ruy Lopez. Black gives up a central pawn in exchange for attacking pressure and piece activity. 

 The Marshall Attack branches out of the Closed Ruy Lopez (Spanish game) after the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 (the Closed Ruy Lopez) 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O (black usually plays 7…d6, entering standard positions leading to the Breyer, Chigorin, Karpov etc., castles keeps his options opened; either for entering the Marshall Attack or normal Closed Spanish lines) 8. c3 d5 – this move signifies the Marshall Attack or the Marshall gambit, as it’s also known (because black sacrifices a central pawn) 

 White plays 8.c3, which gives black an opportunity to exploit the lack of development and the fact that white took away the c3 square from the b1 knight. That’s way d5 works. It’s a timely reaction which provides attacking chances and a huge initiative in exchange for a pawn. If white wants to avoid the Marshall, he can refuse to play c3 on move 8, and enter the “Anti-Marshall” lines with the moves a4, h3 or d4 on move 8. In which case the position will resemble closed variations of the Spanish (Ruy Lopez). However, after c3, black can still go for 8…d6, entering normal lines, but in most cases, d5 will be played, entering the Marshall Attack. After the moves: 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 - white wins the e5 pawn, and black solidifies the knight which is now attacked twice (Marshall, the inventor of this variation, played Nf6 instead of c6, which is imprecise) 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 – It’s clear that black has more than enough compensation for the pawn, but he has to push hard in order to prove that. Wasting time could be terminal for him. 

And white just needs to survive the onslaught, solidify his position and develop the queenside pieces. If he manages to do that he will have an advantage (which will increase as the position simplifies). The Marshall Attack was named after Frank James Marshall (1877 –1944), who was one of the best chess players at the turn of the century. He was also a US Champion for almost thirty years, from 1909 to 1936. The theory of the Marshall Attack goes 30-40 moves deep on GM level, and mastering the opening will require studying games of top players who use the opening. The biggest contemporary expert is Levon Aronian. Two other players whose games you should study are Michael Adams and Mark Hebden. 

Here are a few sample games: *study them over the board to get a feeling about the position. Starting from move 13-15, try to come up with different solutions to the problem for each side – try to increase the pressure with black and do the opposite with white. (and don’t use the engine)