Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense (9. h3 Nb8)

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

The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C94, 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. 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 145 times by this move order. White won 44%, 10% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 10. d4 (94% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.45 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8)

ECO: C94
Moves: 18 plies
FEN: rnbq1rk1/2p1bppp/p2p1n2/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2N1P/PP1P1PP1/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. h3 Nb8

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	1	100%
1500-1999	24	46%12%42%
2000+	120	43%47%
All	145	44%46%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
10. d4 Closed, Breyer	136 (94%)	45%46%
10. d3 Closed, Breyer Defense, Quiet Variation	7 (5%)	29%28%43%
10. a4	2 (1%)	50%50%

Master games

51 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 30%, Black 37%). The strongest:

GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2705) – GM Anton Demchenko (2579) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 20th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-20
GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez (2532) – IM Sayed Javad Alavi (2445) 1/2-1/2 · RBI Open Qualifier 3 2020 · 2020-12-02
GM Boris Savchenko (2613) – IM Ramis Kurbedinov (2318) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Blitz 2016 · 2016-10-07
FM David L Haydon (2283) – GM Evgeny Postny (2570) 1/2-1/2 · 39th ECC Open 2024 · 2024-10-21
FM Nadya Toncheva (2228) – IM Dmitry Obolenskikh (2531) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd May Early · 2022-05-03

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense 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 (8… O-O 9. h3) 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

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer 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
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense, Quiet Variation C94 · 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. d3

More Ruy Lopez lines (all)

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.