Take a look at game below the master level and you'll see they don't go much beyond 6-8 book moves. And, I remember the time my young opponent blitzed out 20 or so opening moves against my Sicilian. Finally, when he sank into deep thought I knew he was at the end of his book knowledge. A few moves later he blundered and lost. In the post mortem I got a lecture about my move (the one that made him stop and think) being a bad one. The reason...it wasn't what Fischer played. My question was, if the move was so bad why didn't he refute it? I got a blank stare.
For us chess putterers, a general overview of openings should be sufficient. And, as for making your opponent think on his own and playing tactical tricks on him because chess is supposed to be 99% tactics...well, we are non-masters because we don't think very well on our own and our tactical vision is third string...unless, perhaps, we are doing tactical exercises and are told there's a mate in three or some such. There's nobody to tell us that during a game. That's why our chess is so dreadful.
The Dilworth Variation of the Ruy Lopez is one of the few opening variations named after an amateur player. Vernon Dilworth (September 16, 1916 - October 9, 2004, 88 years old) was a railway clerk who experimented with the line in the years of 1939-1941 in correspondence games, and then published some of his analysis in Chess magazine.
His variation got recognition when, even though it was unsuccessful, Botvinnik played the variation against Vasily Smyslov in the 1943-44 Moscow Championship.
In more modern times, although today it's not often seen, players like Larsen, Ivanchuk, Short, Leko and Yusupov have played it.
The Dilworth is one of the most interesting variations of the Ruy Lopez. Black gives up a B and a N for R and P, or maybe two, in the hopes of launching an attack on white's K. If White is successful in fending off the attack the result is usually a very complicated ending which theory considers to be about equal.
Just for fun I let Stockfish 15 work on the Dilworth (the position after 11...Nxf2) for 45 minutes and its evaluation was slightly less than half a P in white's favor, i.e. equal. It should be noted that being equal does not mean drawn.
The following game is an early example of Dilworth's experimentation and it shows the complexities of his variation. It's certainly not for the faint of heart.
Estelles–Vernon Dilworth0–1C82Correspondence1941Stockfish 15
Open Ruy Lopez: Dilworth Variation 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 xe4 The Open Variation. Bent Larsen suggested that it was the only
correct way for black to play against the Ruy Lopez. 6.d4 b5 7.b3 d5 8.dxe5 e6 White now has a variety of options, including 9.c3, 9.Be3, 9.Qe2 and
9.Nbd2. 9.c3 This is the classical line. c5 The main line is 9...Be7,
but this is the most aggressive. 10.bd2 0-0 11.c2 This is the best. Now
black must meet the attack on e4. He has two main possibilities: 11...f5 and
11...Bf5, both of which aim to maintain the strong point on e4. 11.xe4 dxe4 12.g5 He could also exchange Qs first. xb3 Now the position is equal
after 13.axb3, but 13.xb3 This logical at first glance move as played in
Tindall,B (2190)-Korneev,O (2565) Jakarta 1997 is a serious mistake. e3 14.e4 exf2+ 15.xf2 xe5 and black is winning. 11...xf2 The Dilworth
Variation. 11...xd2 12.xd2 g4 13.f4 e8 14.d3 g6 15.fe1 f5 16.d2 xc2 17.xc2 White;s better, but in Mackenzie,G-Weiss,M Frankfurt 1887,
black salvaged a draw. 11...xf2+ would result in about equal chances
after 12.xf2 xf2 13.xf2 f6 12.e2 Of course, the only correct move is
12.Rxf2 12.xf2 xf2+ 13.xf2 f6 14.f1 fxe5 15.g1 g4 16.e3 e6 17.b3 d4 18.cxd4 xd4 19.xd4 xd4 20.b1 ad8 21.e2 f5 22.b2 c5 23.xf5 xf5 24.h3 This position is evaluated as being equal. 12...f6
Very weak. 12...g4+ This move is hard to meet as after 13.h1 13.d4
is not at all good. h4 14.2f3 xd4+ 15.cxd4 xd4 16.d2 xf3+ 17.gxf3 xe5 and black should win. 13...e3 forking the B and R assure black os
the advantage. 13.exf6 13.xf2 is less good. fxe5 14.b3 xf2+ 15.xf2 e4 16.e1 d6 17.fd4 with equal chances. 13...xf6 Bad move! White now
stands better. 13...g4+ was his best move. 14.h1 d7 14...e3
does not work in this line. 15.b3 xf6 15...xf1 16.xe6+ f7 17.xh7+
wins 16.xe3 xe3 17.xe3 White is winning. 15.b3 d6 16.fxg7 xg7 17.g5 and white is slightly better. 14.xf2 This is not really a
blunder that loses the game, but now black is back on the attack. White needed
to play 14.Nb3 14.b3 It's understandable that white missed this because
now play becomes fast and furious! h3+ 15.h1 d6 16.gxh3 xh3 17.d3 xf1 18.xh7+ f7 19.h5+ g6 20.h7+ e8 21.xg6+ f7 22.f4 A hard move to
find. 22.xf7+ xf7 23.xf7+ xf7 is unclear. 22...e2 23.g5 e5 24.xf7 xg6 25.xd6+ cxd6 26.d4 Another hard move to find! xf4 27.g1 e6 28.xe2 f3+ 29.g2 White is slightly better. 14...ae8 15.d3 g6
Better was 15...Bxf2+ first. 16.f1 The only move. g4 17.d4
This move looks quite natural, but it loses quickly. Either 17.Bb3 or 17.h3
would have kept the chances equal. 17.h3 h5 18.b3 18.hxg4 hxg4 19.d4
loses. Better is 19.Bb3 when black's advantage is minimal. h4 20.xf8+ xf8 21.e2 xd4 22.cxd4 xd4+ wins easily 18...d6 19.h1 with an unclear
situation. 17...xd4 A tactical fly in the ointment. 18.xf6 18.cxd4 is no better. xd4 19.f3 xf3 20.gxf3 xf3 thid id no answer to
black's mate in 7. 21.e3 xe3 22.h4 f4 23.h3 xf2+ 24.xf2 e2+ 25.f1 g4+ 26.f3 xf3+ 27.g1 g2# 18...xf6 19.cxd4 xd4+ 20.h1 xf1+ 21.xf1 e1 22.d3 f5 23.e2 xe2 24.h6 e4 White resigned. 0–1
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