Ruy Lopez: Closed, Basque Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 exd4 7. e5 Ne4 8. c3
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Basque Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C84, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 exd4 7. e5 Ne4 8. c3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3 times by this move order. White won 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 8… dxc3 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.52 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8… dxc3 9. Nxc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Re1)
- ECO
- C84
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pppbppp/p1n5/4P3/B2pn3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 exd4 7. e5 Ne4 8. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… dxc3 Closed, Center Attack, Basque Gambit | 1 (33%) | |
| 8… Nc5 | 1 (33%) | |
| 8… d3 | 1 (33%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- yeti806 (2530) – Carcelario85 (2472) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- yeti806 (2533) – MKS2020 (2461) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Alequis1991 (2234) – Ben10Tenyson (2302) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Center Attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Center Attack, Basque Gambit C84 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 exd4 7. e5 Ne4 8. c3 dxc3
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.