Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (9. h3 Na5)
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
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C97, 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. 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 182 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 10. Bc2 (99% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.43 (Stockfish, depth 62; best line 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 cxd4)
- ECO
- C97
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p2p1n2/np2p3/4P3/1BP2N1P/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 Na5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 35 | |
| 2000+ | 147 | |
| All | 182 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Bc2 Closed, Chigorin Defense (9… Na5 10. Bc2) | 181 (99%) | |
| 10. d4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 17%, draw 50%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Vojtech Plat (2487) – GM Valeriy Neverov (2398) 1/2-1/2 · Vezerkepzo Summer GM 2025 · 2025-07-26
- GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2512) – IM Georg Seul (2372) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 1st Sept · 2020-09-01
- GM Igor Efimov (2406) – IM Blechzin, I. (2360) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd Scacchisti.it Open 2014 · 2014-07-10
- FM Mladen Trbojevic (2334) – GM Ivan Leventic (2308) 1/2-1/2 · 34th TCh-CRO Div 1b 2025 · 2025-11-23
- CM Yahya Chelly (1951) – FM Gedeon Hartge (2307) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 30th Apr 2026 · 2026-04-30
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 (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, Chigorin Defense (9… Na5 10. Bc2) 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
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.