Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (Spanish Game), 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, is one of the oldest and most classical openings. White pressures the knight that defends e5, aiming for a lasting central advantage. The Berlin, the Closed Ruy Lopez and the Marshall Attack are the main lines at the top level.
1573master games
2623avg. Elo
24variations
White wins %21 · draw %66 · Black wins %13
Played by: So, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Keymer, Caruana, Erigaisi, Vachier Lagrave, Niemann
Main line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Nd7 7.c3 O-O 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bh4 Qe8 11.Nbd2 Qf7 12.Bg3 Re8 13.Qc2 b6 14.b3 Ba6 15.Rfe1 c5
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free →Variations played by masters (24)
Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation · ECO C65 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Nd7 7.c3 O-O 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bh4 Qe8 …
284 games · avg. Elo 2637 · W/D/L 75/176/33 · Model game: Giri – Niemann, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted · ECO C67 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 …
211 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 18/182/11
Closed, Martinez Variation · ECO C84 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Bb7 10.Re1 Na5 …
197 games · avg. Elo 2624 · W/D/L 50/115/32
Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation · ECO C77 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Ba7 10.a4 g5 …
132 games · avg. Elo 2619 · W/D/L 36/72/24 · Model game: Tiviakov – L'Ami, 2026 (1-0)
Morphy Defense, Møller Variation · ECO C78 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bb7 9.d4 Bb6 10.Re1 h6 …
83 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 18/53/12 · Model game: Caruana – Woodward, 2026 (1-0)
Morphy Defense, Neo-Arkhangelsk Variation · ECO C78 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 …
75 games · avg. Elo 2617 · W/D/L 14/49/12 · Model game: Anton Guijarro – Kacharava, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Open Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation · ECO C67 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4 8.Nxd4 d5 9.exd6 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd6 …
72 games · avg. Elo 2584 · W/D/L 0/71/1
Closed, Delayed Exchange · ECO C85 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Nd7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Be3 Re8 10.a4 a5 …
71 games · avg. Elo 2630 · W/D/L 22/37/12 · Model game: Abdusattorov – Gukesh, 2026 (1-0)
Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Berlin Wall Defense · ECO C67 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Bf4 Be6 …
60 games · avg. Elo 2640 · W/D/L 15/42/3 · Model game: Giri – Keymer, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense · ECO C72 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O Bd7 6.c3 g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.h3 Nf6 9.Re1 O-O 10.Bc2 Re8 …
48 games · avg. Elo 2605 · W/D/L 18/22/8 · Model game: Mishra – McShane, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred · ECO C79 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 Bd7 7.c3 g6 8.d4 Bg7 9.h3 O-O 10.Bc2 Nh5 …
47 games · avg. Elo 2610 · W/D/L 16/20/11 · Model game: Shevchenko – Theodorou, 2024 (1-0)
Morphy Defense, Classical Defense Deferred · ECO C70 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Bc5 5.c3 Nge7 6.O-O Ng6 7.d4 Ba7 8.Bg5 f6 9.Be3 O-O 10.Re1 d6 …
39 games · avg. Elo 2636 · W/D/L 5/29/5 · Model game: Vachier Lagrave – Nihal, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Morphy Defense, Cozio Defense · ECO C70 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nge7 5.c3 Ng6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 d5 9.O-O Bxc3 10.exd5 Qxd5 …
38 games · avg. Elo 2606 · W/D/L 5/25/8 · Model game: Dominguez Perez – Caruana, 2024 (0-1)
Open, Classical Defense · ECO C83 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Nbd2 Nc5 …
34 games · avg. Elo 2644 · W/D/L 7/26/1
Open · ECO C80 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 Be7 7.Re1 b5 8.Rxe4 d5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Rxe5 bxa4 …
31 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 10/16/5
Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation · ECO C77 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.O-O b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.d3 d6 9.a3 Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 …
30 games · avg. Elo 2612 · W/D/L 7/14/9 · Model game: Carlsen – Firouzja, 2026 (1-0)
Cozio Defense · ECO C60 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.Nc3 Ng6 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 c6 8.Be2 Qb6 9.Qd3 Be7 10.O-O O-O …
25 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 6/15/4 · Model game: Engel – Kollars, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
Marshall Attack, Modern Variation · ECO C89 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 …
21 games · avg. Elo 2631 · W/D/L 3/17/1
Morphy Defense, Norwegian Variation · ECO C70 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5 6.O-O d6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 Bb7 9.Bd2 Nxb3 10.axb3 Nf6 …
14 games · avg. Elo 2616 · W/D/L 2/10/2 · Model game: Adhiban – Aditya, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Morphy Defense, Arkhangelsk Variation · ECO C78 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d3 Be7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.a3 Nd4 10.Ba2 Nxf3+ …
14 games · avg. Elo 2618 · W/D/L 0/12/2 · Model game: Lu Shanglei – Makhnev, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Exchange Variation, Normal Variation · ECO C69 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Qf6 6.d4 exd4 7.Bg5 Qd6 8.Nxd4 Be7 9.Be3 Nf6 10.f3 c5 …
13 games · avg. Elo 2650 · W/D/L 3/9/1 · Model game: Caruana – Praggnanandhaa, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
Schliemann Defense · ECO C63 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.O-O d6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.a3 O-O 9.Bc4+ Kh8 10.Ng5 Qe8 …
12 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 1/10/1 · Model game: Niemann – Aronian, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
Berlin Defense · ECO C65 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bd6 5.a3 O-O 6.d3 Ne7 7.Bc4 c6 8.d4 Ng6 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Qxd6 Nxc4 …
12 games · avg. Elo 2600 · W/D/L 3/6/3 · Model game: Narayanan – Murzin, 2025 (0-1)
Classical Variation, Central Variation · ECO C64 · for White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 Nd5 7.O-O Be7 8.cxd4 d6 9.exd6 cxd6 10.Qb3 Nc7 …
10 games · avg. Elo 2651 · W/D/L 4/5/1 · Model game: Sjugirov – Indjic, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free →Other openings
Sicilian DefenseQueen's Gambit DeclinedEnglish OpeningItalian GameIndian DefensePetrov's DefenseNimzo-Indian DefenseFrench DefenseZukertort OpeningCaro-Kann DefenseQueen's Pawn GameKing's Indian AttackFour Knights GameQueen's Gambit AcceptedCatalan OpeningScotch Game
Statistics from classical games of 2500+ rated players. Notation: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.