Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (10. Bc2 c5)

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 Na5 10. Bc2 c5

The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C96, 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 Na5 10. Bc2 c5. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 179 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 11. d4 (89% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Bd7)

ECO: C96
Moves: 20 plies
FEN: r1bq1rk1/4bppp/p2p1n2/npp1p3/4P3/2P2N1P/PPBP1PP1/RNBQR1K1 w - - 0 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 Na5 10. Bc2 c5

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
1500-1999	34	68%29%
2000+	145	46%47%
All	179	50%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
11. d4	159 (89%)	48%45%
11. d3	13 (7%)	69%31%
11. a4	7 (4%)	57%14%29%

Master games

327 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 32%, Black 21%). The strongest:

Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-14
Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-14
Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3620) 1-0 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-23
KomodoDragon3.3 (3620) – Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-23
LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

SouthWind06 (2578) – twirpx (2806) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
AyaSen77 (2765) – Gorin_Leonid (2592) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
ruguokeyi (2599) – Fettywapest (2735) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (9… Na5 10. Bc2) 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 Na5 10. Bc2

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Borisenko Variation C96 · 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 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nc6
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (11. d4 Qc7) C97 · 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 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Keres Defense C96 · 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 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7

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.