Ruy Lopez: Closed (7. Bb3 O-O)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O
The Ruy Lopez: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO C88, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,862 times by this move order. White won 48%, 7% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 8. c3 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Bd2 b4)
- ECO
- C88
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/2ppbppp/p1n2n2/1p2p3/4P3/1B3N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQR1K1 w - - 2 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 36 | |
| 1500-1999 | 675 | |
| 2000+ | 1,151 | |
| All | 1,862 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. c3 | 1,066 (57%) | |
| 8. a4 Closed, Anti-Marshall | 326 (18%) | |
| 8. h3 | 198 (11%) | |
| 8. d4 | 132 (7%) | |
| 8. d3 | 104 (6%) | |
| 8. Nc3 | 26 (1%) | |
| 8. a3 | 7 (0%) | |
| 8. Bd5 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
4,243 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 30%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-28
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-28
- Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) – Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-11
- Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) – Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-08
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3634) – Stockfishdev-20240513-e608eab8 (3662) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-05-16
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM dclasby (2775) – GM gmbrewchess (2994) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2904) – Chess1Love0 (2782) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2845) – FM Crew12 (2748) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed (6… b5 7. Bb3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Anti-Marshall C88 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
- Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack (8. c3 d5) C89 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Pilnik Variation C90 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. 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.