Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4
The Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 805 times by this move order. White won 58%, 4% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bxc6 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.78 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4. c3 Ba5 5. Qa4 Bb6 6. d4 Nge7)
- ECO
- C60
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/1B2p3/1b2P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 4 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 620 | |
| 1500-1999 | 150 | |
| 2000+ | 35 | |
| All | 805 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bxc6 | 273 (34%) | |
| 4. c3 | 272 (34%) | |
| 4. O-O | 169 (21%) | |
| 4. a3 | 54 (7%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 23 (3%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 4 (0%) | |
| 4. Qe2 | 3 (0%) | |
| 4. Nxe5 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
98 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 28%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2771) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) 0-1 · 2nd Norway Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-02
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2720) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 24th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-24
- GM Georg Meier (2647) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2834) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-02-04
- GM Sergey Grigoriants (2568) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2834) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-01-18
- FM Rustam Rustamov (2314) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 27th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-27
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SnoopyDoggy (2628) – IM Secret_Magnus (2670) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NeuroChess-Academie (2636) – Poblesk (2547) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- bombokobombo123456 (2612) – RoadToMf8 (2550) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense, Alapin Gambit C60 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4 4. c3 Ba5 5. Bxc6 dxc6
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- Ruy Lopez: Brentano Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Bulgarian Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Tartakower Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense, Kevitz Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Lucena Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Nürnberg Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Retreat Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Rotary-Albany Gambit C60
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.