Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Modern Main Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5
The Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Modern Main Line 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 7. Bg5. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 17 times by this move order. White won 59%, 6% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 7… h6 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.44 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 7… d6 8. a4 a5 9. h3 Ne7 10. dxe5)
- ECO
- C64
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppp1ppp/1bn2n2/1B2p1B1/3PP3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RN1Q1RK1 b - - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 17 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… h6 | 8 (47%) | |
| 7… d6 | 6 (35%) | |
| 7… a6 | 1 (6%) | |
| 7… Qe7 | 1 (6%) | |
| 7… Re8 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
46 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 27%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2637) – GM Benjamin Finegold (2475) 1-0 · 47th Annual World Open · 2019-07-06
- GM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2550) – GM Brandon Jacobson (2544) 1-0 · ch-USA Junior 2022 · 2022-07-07
- GM Etienne Bacrot (2721) – FM Daniel Sorm (2316) 1-0 · 11th Balagna Rapid KO 2014 · 2014-05-04
- IM Israel Caspi (2487) – IM Manuel Pena Gomez (2468) 0-1 · 35th Andorra Open 2017 · 2017-07-26
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Modern Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Fragvm (2259) – Bindikpogi (2396) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- varvar12c (2381) – atcheck (2240) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- Farzin54 (2225) – Irishking72 (2141) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
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.