Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid
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 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid is a chess opening classified as ECO C95, 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. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 136 times by this move order. White won 45%, 9% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 11. Nbd2 (71% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.31 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 11. Bc2 Bb7 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Nf1 a5)
- ECO
- C95
- Moves
- 20 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/2pnbppp/p2p1n2/1p2p3/3PP3/1BP2N1P/PP3PP1/RNBQR1K1 w - - 1 11- 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. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 111 | |
| All | 136 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11. Nbd2 | 96 (71%) | |
| 11. a4 | 18 (13%) | |
| 11. c4 | 8 (6%) | |
| 11. Bg5 | 6 (4%) | |
| 11. Bc2 | 4 (3%) | |
| 11. d5 | 2 (1%) | |
| 11. dxe5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 11. Bd2 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
3,769 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 33%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-07-31
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2767) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2868) 0-1 · Supreme Masters 2013 · 2013-05-13
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2767) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2834) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-23
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2861) – GM cutemouse83 (2967) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Epichess95 (2845) – July16Q (2639) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- legko2019 (2666) – IM Gorbaev (2636) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer 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 Nb8 10. d4
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense (10… Nbd7 11. Nh4) C95 · 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 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nh4
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense (12. Bc2 c5) C95 · 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 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 c5
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.