Ruy Lopez: Closed (8. c3 O-O)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O

The Ruy Lopez: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO C90, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 593 times by this move order. White won 48%, 7% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 9. h3 (74% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8)

ECO: C90
Moves: 16 plies
FEN: r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQR1K1 w - - 1 9
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	9	44%12%44%
1500-1999	126	55%40%
2000+	458	46%46%
All	593	48%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
9. h3 Closed (8… O-O 9. h3)	439 (74%)	47%44%
9. d4 Closed, Yates Variation	108 (18%)	46%50%
9. d3	35 (6%)	54%40%
9. a4	10 (2%)	40%20%40%
9. Bc2 Closed, Lutikov Variation	1 (0%)	100%

Master games

477 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 30%, Black 33%). The strongest:

GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2741) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2692) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-ESP CECLUB Div Honor 2012 · 2012-11-08
GM Jules Moussard (2654) – GM Bassem Amin (2694) 1-0 · 56th Biel GM Blitz 2023 · 2023-07-22
GM Alan Pichot (2630) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2691) 1/2-1/2 · Lindores Abbey Tal Mem · 2021-11-08
GM Michael Adams (2740) – GM Nils Grandelius (2571) 1-0 · 41st Olympiad Open 2014 · 2014-08-12
GM Sergey A. Fedorchuk (2656) – GM Ivan Saric (2628) 1-0 · 17th Corsican Circuit Final · 2013-10-21

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Sunrise34 (2861) – GM cutemouse83 (2967) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
puziko52 (2851) – Vahe_S (2743) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Epichess95 (2845) – July16Q (2639) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 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 (8… O-O 9. h3) C92 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Lutikov Variation C90 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. Bc2
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Suetin Variation C90 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. a3
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Yates Variation C91 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d4

More Ruy Lopez lines (all)

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.