Ruy Lopez: Closed, Bogoljubow Variation
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 Bg4
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Bogoljubow Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C91, 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 9. d4 Bg4. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 74 times by this move order. White won 41%, 2% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 10. Be3 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 10. Be3 Bh5 11. a4 Na5 12. Ba2 c5)
- ECO
- C91
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r2q1rk1/2p1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/3PP1b1/1BP2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 w - - 1 10- 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 9. d4 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 25 | |
| 2000+ | 45 | |
| All | 74 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Be3 | 23 (31%) | |
| 10. d5 | 18 (24%) | |
| 10. h3 | 9 (12%) | |
| 10. Bg5 | 7 (9%) | |
| 10. Qd3 | 5 (7%) | |
| 10. dxe5 | 5 (7%) | |
| 10. Nbd2 | 3 (4%) | |
| 10. Bd5 | 2 (3%) |
Master games
1,426 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 29%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2776) – GM Liren Ding (2811) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-18
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2776) – GM Liren Ding (2811) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-18
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2776) – GM Liren Ding (2811) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-18
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2776) – GM Liren Ding (2811) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-18
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Bogoljubow Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- apollothedog (2680) – joobree (2538) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- smhx9 (2567) – TestoTester (2599) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- IM KingofCheapos (2489) – SpaghettiFortress (2397) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Yates Variation 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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Yates Variation, Short Attack 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 Bg4 10. a4
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.