Opening Principles in the Ruy Lopez | Chess Openings Explained

Name: Opening Principles in the Ruy Lopez | Chess Openings Explained
Uploaded: 2018-04-02T17:00:02+00:00
Description: National Master Jim McLaughlin explains basic opening principles while going through the Steinitz Defense Deferred. Do you prefer this view style or would you like the superimposed board to appear as Jim moves? 2018.02.26

April 2, 2018 NHaselton Chess Lectures

♛

Ready to play?

Practice the Ruy Lopez on Chess.com

Play on Chess.com →

National Master Jim McLaughlin explains basic opening principles while going through the Steinitz Defense Deferred.

Do you prefer this view style or would you like the superimposed board to appear as Jim moves?

2018.02.26

♟ More videos — same opening

Danya Defeats Exposed Cheater | Ruy Lopez Bird Variation |…

Jun 20, 2026

Performance: 3066 || Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Luke McShane || London…

Dec 3, 2025

1…e5 Repertoire for Black (against the Spanish, Italian, Scotch, Vienna,…

Dec 2, 2025

He Did Well Considering His Opponent Was an Engine ||…

Dec 1, 2025

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

<div id="puzzlebot-container"></div>

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.polyfills.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var board = null;
  var game = new Chess();

  function onDragStart(source, piece, position, orientation) {
    // do not allow dragging when game is over
    if (game.game_over()) return false;

    // only allow white pieces to be dragged
    if (piece.search(/^b/) !== -1) return false;
  }

  function onDrop(source, target) {
    // see if the move is legal
    var move = game.move({
      from: source,
      to: target,
      promotion: "q" // always promote to a queen for example simplicity
    });

    // illegal move
    if (move === null) return "snapback";

    // update the board position
    board.position(game.fen());

    // get a random move from the engine
    window.setTimeout(makeRandomMove, 250);
  }

  // make a random move
  function makeRandomMove() {
    var possibleMoves = game.moves();

    // game over
    if (possibleMoves.length === 0) return;

    var randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * possibleMoves.length);
    game.move(possibleMoves[randomIndex]);
    board.position(game.fen());
  }

  // initialize the chessboard
  function init() {
    var config = {
      draggable: true,
      onDragStart: onDragStart,
      onDrop: onDrop,
      position: 'start'
    };

    board = Chessboard('puzzlebot-container', config);

    makeRandomMove();
  }

  $(document).ready(init);
</script>