Ruy Lopez: Closed, Anti-Marshall
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
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Anti-Marshall 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 8. a4. 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 326 times by this move order. White won 56%, 7% were drawn and Black won 37%. The most popular continuation is 8… b4 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 8… b4 9. a5 d6 10. c3 Rb8 11. Bc4)
- ECO
- C88
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/2ppbppp/p1n2n2/1p2p3/P3P3/1B3N2/1PPP1PPP/RNBQR1K1 b - - 0 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 8. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 59 | |
| 2000+ | 262 | |
| All | 326 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… b4 | 117 (36%) | |
| 8… Bb7 | 108 (33%) | |
| 8… Rb8 | 88 (27%) | |
| 8… d5 | 6 (2%) | |
| 8… bxa4 | 4 (1%) | |
| 8… Na5 | 2 (1%) | |
| 8… d6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
3,424 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 33%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-01
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-28
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-16
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-16
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Levon Aronian (2813) 1-0 · Sinquefield Cup 2013 · 2013-09-15
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Anti-Marshall and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GladiatorDefence (2777) – BILLYS10 (2770) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- bombokobombo123456 (2696) – kuhmft (2826) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- bombokobombo123456 (2718) – NM Andrey11976 (2797) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
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
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.