Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Charousek Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Bb6
The Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Charousek Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C64, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Bb6. 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 112 times by this move order. White won 53%, 2% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5. O-O (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.00 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Nce7 7. Qc2 c6)
- ECO
- C64
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/1bn5/1B2p3/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Bb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 72 | |
| 2000+ | 36 | |
| All | 112 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. O-O | 57 (51%) | |
| 5. d4 | 44 (39%) | |
| 5. Bxc6 | 5 (4%) | |
| 5. d3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5. h3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. Ba4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 19%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Eric Hansen (2606) – GM Jaan Ehlvest (2517) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 1st Dec · 2020-12-01
- GM Alexei Shirov (2649) – IM Pavel Shkapenko (2424) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 6th Oct · 2020-10-06
- GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2536) – GM Jaan Ehlvest (2521) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2019-01-10
- GM Mikhail Kobalia (2628) – IM Pavel Shkapenko (2425) 1-0 · European Rapid 2016 · 2016-12-15
- GM Robert Hungaski (2467) – GM Darcy Lima (2522) 1/2-1/2 · Aloas Cup Magistral 2015 · 2015-11-01
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Charousek Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- wealthtaxesuk (2390) – Ismailrekikoss (2461) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- legendgaming00 (2361) – NFear (2427) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- PerryThePatzerpus (2257) – ninjago_chess (2249) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Central Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3
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.