Ruy Lopez: Classical Defense, Benelux Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6
The Ruy Lopez: Classical Defense, Benelux Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C64, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6. 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 67 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 7. Re1 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 63; best line 7. a4 a6 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Nxe5 Nxe4)
- ECO
- C64
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppp1ppp/1bn2n2/1B2p3/3PP3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 14 | |
| 1500-1999 | 20 | |
| 2000+ | 33 | |
| All | 67 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Re1 | 21 (31%) | |
| 7. Bg5 Classical Variation, Modern Main Line | 17 (25%) | |
| 7. d5 | 10 (15%) | |
| 7. dxe5 | 9 (13%) | |
| 7. Bxc6 | 5 (7%) | |
| 7. a4 | 3 (4%) | |
| 7. h3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7. Qd3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
53 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 23%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202008260719_nn-82215d0fd0df (3551) – Fire 8_beta (3457) 1-0 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-05
- Fire 8_beta (3457) – Stockfish 202008260719_nn-82215d0fd0df (3551) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-02
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2723) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2782) 1-0 · Chess.com Classic Losers · 2025-05-21
- GM Avital Boruchovsky (2542) – GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2697) 1/2-1/2 · 19th ch-EUR Indiv 2018 · 2018-03-21
- GM Jacob Aagaard (2477) – GM Tamir Nabaty (2638) 0-1 · Online Olym Div2 C 2021 · 2021-09-03
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Classical Defense, Benelux Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sophiaknowthatuandi (2567) – TCromwell (2517) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Chepika8 (2480) – benga77 (2424) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- milayadevochkasasha (2304) – CM drg2 (2543) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Zukertort Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Modern Main Line C64 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5
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.