Ruy Lopez: Closed, Averbakh Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 d6
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Averbakh Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C87, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 d6. 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 156 times by this move order. White won 54%, 4% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 7. c3 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 7. c3 O-O 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 d5)
- ECO
- C87
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pp1bppp/p1np1n2/4p3/B3P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQR1K1 w kq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 16 | |
| 1500-1999 | 104 | |
| 2000+ | 36 | |
| All | 156 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. c3 | 83 (53%) | |
| 7. h3 | 48 (31%) | |
| 7. d4 | 18 (12%) | |
| 7. Bb3 | 3 (2%) | |
| 7. Bxc6+ | 2 (1%) | |
| 7. Nc3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7. c4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
368 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 34%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-09
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-07
- StoofvleesII d2 (3479) – Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-09
- Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) – StoofvleesII d2 (3479) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-07
- Ethereal14.35 (3523) – Berserk13 (3540) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Averbakh Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- HikoSeijuroXIV (2337) – aclee99 (2403) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- ZakiMa (2335) – Jessy1967 (2365) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- BOOOOOM25 (2274) – White_Fortress (2408) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed (5. O-O Be7) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7
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.