Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (12… Nc6 13. dxc5)

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 13. dxc5

The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C98, 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 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. dxc5. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 13… dxc5 (100% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 13… dxc5 14. Qe2 Be6 15. Ng5 Bd7 16. Nf1)

ECO: C98
Moves: 25 plies
FEN: r1b2rk1/2q1bppp/p1np1n2/1pP1p3/4P3/2P2N1P/PPBN1PP1/R1BQR1K1 b - - 0 13
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 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. dxc5

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
2000+	1	100%
All	1	100%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
13… dxc5	1 (100%)	100%

Master games

5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 20%, Black 20%). The strongest:

Arthur Pijpers (2371) – IM Christof Sielecki (2420) 0-1 · Dutch League 2014-15 · 2014-09-27
IM Zdravko Zelic (2365) – Marko Rubil (2217) 1-0 · TCh-CRO Final 2014 · 2014-05-18
FM Bengt Hammar (2231) – CM Anthony C Ashby (2121) 1/2-1/2 · 23rd World Seniors 2013 · 2013-11-19
Victor Ramirez Medina (2011) – Antonio Aguilera Suarez (1799) 1-0 · 34th El Corte Ingles · 2013-12-08
Matthew Dishman (1949) – Anto Matanovic (1773) 1-0 · KCF University Cup 2021 · 2021-02-07

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Ngandung (2280) – Anubhav_Tuknayat21 (2221) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (12. Nbd2 Nc6) 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

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.