Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation, Paulsen Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O Ne7
The Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation, Paulsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C61, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O Ne7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 20 times by this move order. White won 55%, 5% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 6. d3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.72 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 6. Ba4 g6 7. d3 Bg7 8. f4 a5)
- ECO
- C61
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppppnppp/8/1B6/3pP3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O Ne7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 20 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. d3 | 9 (45%) | |
| 6. c3 | 7 (35%) | |
| 6. Re1 | 2 (10%) | |
| 6. f4 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. c4 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
15 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 33%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2557) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 10th Dec Early · 2024-12-10
- GM Nikita Vitiugov (2668) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2539) 1/2-1/2 · 24th ch-EUR Indiv 2024 · 2024-11-13
- GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2642) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2557) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Dec Late · 2024-12-17
- IM Leonardo Costa (2472) – GM Eltaj Safarli (2596) 0-1 · 27th OIBM 2024 · 2024-10-29
- FM Steven Rojas Salas (2223) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2557) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Dec Early · 2024-12-24
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation, Paulsen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- denis_gatil (2381) – OstavaisaSoboi (2553) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Armandorivas46-02-21 (2104) – dodkslew (2239) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- BND (2164) – SLmks223 (2166) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- Ruy Lopez C60
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense, Alapin Gambit C60
- 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
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.