Ruy Lopez: Classical Defense, Zaitsev Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Nd4 5. b4
The Ruy Lopez: Classical Defense, Zaitsev Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C64, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Nd4 5. b4. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5… Nxf3+ 6. Qxf3 Bxb4 7. Qg3 Nf6 8. d4)
- ECO
- C64
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/8/1Bb1p3/1P1nP3/5N2/P1PP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Nd4 5. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 71%, draw 29%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- GM Richard Rapport (2729) – GM Nihal Sarin (2723) 1-0 · V Menorca Cerrado 2026 · 2026-04-11
- GM Laurent Fressinet (2706) – GM Vladislav Tkachiev (2632) 1-0 · 10th Balagne Rapid KO · 2013-04-14
- GM Valeriy Aveskulov (2492) – GM Valeriy Neverov (2387) 1-0 · FSGM October 2023 · 2023-10-16
- FM Joseph McPhillips (2359) – Ivan J Myall (2055) 1-0 · 40th Blackpool Conference · 2016-03-11
- Daniel King Wai Lam (2169) – FM Adrian Winter Atwell (2158) 1-0 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Classical Defense, Zaitsev Variation and its sub-variations
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5
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.