Strategy in the Marshall attack

The Marshall attack belongs to the great family of positions arising from the Ruy Lopez opening, with a very specific strategy. But, let’s be honest, it is a one-of-a-kind opening and pawn center. So the usual plans in the Ruy Lopez do not exactly apply here.

Stjepan Tomić is a strong player and famous youtuber with his Hanging Pawns channel. His goal is to become a Grandmaster and to share his new Chess knowledge with the community.

We are going to look at plans and ideas in central formations after black breaks with d7-d5 before White got the time to play d2-d4 himself.

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The Marshall Attack is in many ways an opening system, or an opening gambit, completely different to normal Ruy Lopez lines with the standard Ruy Lopez tense pawn center. Black offers a pawn in exchange for dynamic play and pressure against the white king.

1..e4e5

2..Nf3Nc6

3..Bb5a6

4..Ba4Nf6

5..O-OBe7

6..Re1b5

7..Bb3O-O

8..c3d5

9..exd5Nxd5

10..Nxe5Nxe5

11..Rxe5

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This pawn formation is important not only because of the Marshall, but because black could be (purposefully or not) allowed to play the move d5 in other positions too, where the ideas discussed below may easily apply.

Look for instance at this opening played in the game Bjerre-Dubov in 2019.

8..a4d5

9..exd5Na5

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So consider this to be a chapter not only on the Marshall attack strategy, but on all pawn centers in which black has broken through with an early d7-d5.

Let’s consider what black gets in exchange for the sacrificed pawn. Before we continue, it has to be highlighted that if black gets in d5 “for free”, without having to sacrifice material this early on, then he will have won the opening battle already.

A strong Kingside attack for Black

In this starting position of the Marshall, we can easily discern black’s compensation.

8..c3d5

9..exd5Nxd5

10..Nxe5Nxe5

11..Rxe5c6

12..d4Bd6

13..Re1

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It lies in his superior development. Black’s bishops and queen are already perfectly placed on the diagonals towards the king.

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The d5 knight is a monster and easily shuts in the b3 bishop (trading is debatable).

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And the rooks can come via the e file, and even via a a7-e7 rook lift.

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White, on the other hand, has a very discombobulated position. His queenside is completely undeveloped.

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His rooks are disconnected, and, most importantly, his king has no defenders.
The strategy in these, blown up pawn centers, will mostly revolve around that.

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The strategy for white is, therefore, to develop his queenside pieces as soon as possible.

He will do so by playing the bishop to e3, and the knight to d2 afterwards.

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Black will at some point infiltrate on h4 with his queen and provoke a further weakening of the white king in the form of g3 (which is necessary to avoid checkmates on h2), so the white d2 knight will have a hard time coming into f3, and will be destined to a life without a permanent solid outpost.
That in itself is a tactical liability.

13....Qh4

14..g3

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A queenside play for White

After black has mobilized all his forces and pointed them towards the queenside, white has nothing better but to seek queenside counter play.

Breaking open the a file with a4 is the “main line” idea against the Marshall.

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The light squared complex

One clear strategic plan in Marshall Attack centers is an onslaught on the light squares. By provoking the move g3, black has eliminated all light squared control in the white camp.

The strategic battle will, therefore, be fought over them, and both sides will maneuver their pieces having the light squared complex in mind.

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For white, this battle is of vital importance, as a single mistake could mean defeat. White must try and bring his pieces to the defense of f1, g2, h3, f3, and e2 any way he can.

The b3 bishop can be brought back via c2 and d3.

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The d2 knight can shuffle itself via f1 and e3 to support g2.

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The queen could be placed on f1 or f3 to prevent a deadly attack.

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The next part of white’s plan should be trading pieces into an endgame. If white manages to release the pressure, he will stand well with a clear pawn up and with black’s queenside pawns “locked”.

This endgame would be winning for White, with a clear pawn majority.

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I hope you found this overview of the Marshall attack plans useful. There is one last pawn structure I wanted to tell you about on a next article: the Ruy Lopez exchange pawn center.