Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (11. d4 Qc7)

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

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 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7. 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 122 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 12. Nbd2 (54% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.57 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 12. d5 Bd7 13. b3 g6 14. Be3 Nh5)

ECO: C97
Moves: 22 plies
FEN: r1b2rk1/2q1bppp/p2p1n2/npp1p3/3PP3/2P2N1P/PPB2PP1/RNBQR1K1 w - - 1 12
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 11. d4 Qc7

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
1500-1999	20	70%25%
2000+	102	42%51%
All	122	47%47%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
12. Nbd2	66 (54%)	42%50%
12. d5	47 (39%)	53%43%
12. a4	3 (2%)	67%33%
12. Bg5	3 (2%)	67%33%
12. dxe5	1 (1%)	100%
12. b3	1 (1%)	100%
12. Qe2	1 (1%)	100%

Master games

1,198 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 29%, Black 27%). The strongest:

Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22
Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – Berserk 20241119 (3589) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-14
Berserk 20241119 (3589) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-12
LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-19
Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-19

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

ruguokeyi (2599) – Fettywapest (2735) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Iprotiv (2570) – TestoTester (2575) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Sawa-169 (2490) – Turtle-turtle (2504) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s

Comes from

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

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (12. Nbd2 Nc6) C98 · 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 12. Nbd2 Nc6
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, Panov System C99 · 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 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin, Yugoslav System 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 12. Nbd2 Bd7 13. Nf1 Rfe8 14. Ne3 g6

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.