Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4
The Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C61, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4. 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 13,414 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxd4 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O c6 6. Bc4 Nf6)
- ECO
- C61
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/1B2p3/3nP3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 4 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6,827 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,853 | |
| 2000+ | 734 | |
| All | 13,414 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxd4 | 10,924 (81%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 975 (7%) | |
| 4. Ba4 | 410 (3%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 332 (2%) | |
| 4. Nxe5 | 284 (2%) | |
| 4. a4 | 75 (1%) | |
| 4. O-O | 71 (1%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 71 (1%) |
Master games
694 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 19%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – Ethereal 14.40 (3545) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-04
- Ethereal 14.40 (3545) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-01
- LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) – SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3455) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-24
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Odirovski (2517) – Vihajaisestatulesta (2499) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Sait-0505 (2524) – jim2600 (2462) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- CM DiverseOpening (2426) – damithk (2532) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Bird Variation, Paulsen Variation C61 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O Ne7
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- 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
- Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense 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.