Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Cordel Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5
The Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Cordel Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C64, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5. 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 72 times by this move order. White won 49%, 7% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5. d4 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.56 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5. d4 fxe4 6. dxc5 exf3 7. Qxf3 Nf6)
- ECO
- C64
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp2pp/2n5/1Bb1pp2/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 27 | |
| 2000+ | 39 | |
| All | 72 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. d4 | 31 (43%) | |
| 5. exf5 | 18 (25%) | |
| 5. Bxc6 | 11 (15%) | |
| 5. d3 | 7 (10%) | |
| 5. Qe2 | 2 (3%) | |
| 5. O-O | 2 (3%) | |
| 5. Nxe5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
141 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 16%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2776) – GM Erwin L'Ami (2605) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2016-17 · 2017-04-30
- GM Robin Van Kampen (2615) – GM Erwin L'Ami (2613) 1/2-1/2 · 77th Tata Steel GpB · 2015-01-12
- GM Tigran Gharamian (2626) – GM Jean-Marc Degraeve (2592) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-FRA Top 12 2017 · 2017-05-21
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Cordel Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- puziko52 (2695) – IM filolog (2718) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- SouthWind06 (2602) – IM filolog (2707) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Hammurapi65 (2427) – ERDI22 (2474) 1/2-1/2 · 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.