Ruy Lopez: Central Countergambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d5
The Ruy Lopez: Central Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C78, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d5. 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 49 times by this move order. White won 61%, 0% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 6. exd5 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: +2.09 (Stockfish, depth 31; best line 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qd6 8. Nxe5 Bd7)
- ECO
- C78
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1pp2ppp/p1n2n2/3pp3/B3P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 33 | |
| 1500-1999 | 16 | |
| All | 49 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. exd5 | 27 (55%) | |
| 6. Nxe5 | 12 (24%) | |
| 6. Bxc6+ | 5 (10%) | |
| 6. d3 | 2 (4%) | |
| 6. Re1 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6. d4 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- WCM Lala Huseynova (1984) – WCM Rajanya Datta (1812) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Sep Early · 2024-09-17
- Petr Vachtfeidl (1983) – Nishchal Thatte (1203) 1-0 · London Classic Open 2015 · 2015-12-07
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Central Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vladimirK56 (1934) – MohamadAsaad (1842) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 900 + 0s
- joeyag (1873) – lijikumaran (1880) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Tiger-A (2014) – LionsNmG34 (1625) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (4… Nf6 5. O-O) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O
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.