FIDE Master Aviv Friedman looks at different ways to navigate the middlegame out of a closed Ruy Lopez. The first game features nine-year-old Russian prodigy Ilya Makoveev.

Ilya Makoveev vs. Martin Stukan, 2015: C84 Ruy Lopez, closed defence
Anish Giri vs Peter Svidler, World Cup (2015): C92 Ruy Lopez, closed, Flohr-Zaitsev system (Lenzerheide variation)
Anatoly Karpov vs Jan Smejkal, 01, EU-chT Moscow ;EU-chT (1977): C95 Ruy Lopez, closed, Breyer, Borisenko variation