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
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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 181 times by this move order. White won 50%, 7% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 10… c5 (99% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 10… c5 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 cxd4 13. Nxd4)
- ECO
- C96
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p2p1n2/np2p3/4P3/2P2N1P/PPBP1PP1/RNBQR1K1 b - - 2 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 10. Bc2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 35 | |
| 2000+ | 146 | |
| All | 181 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… c5 Closed, Chigorin Defense (10. Bc2 c5) | 179 (99%) | |
| 10… h6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 10… d5 Closed, Chigorin Defense, Gajewski Gambit | 1 (1%) |
Master games
18 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 50%, Black 6%). The strongest:
- Seer 20241122 (3542) – KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-03
- KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) – Seer 20241122 (3542) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-01
- Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50e (3607) – Berserk 20230311 (3476) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-23
- Berserk 20230311 (3476) – Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50e (3607) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-21
- RubiChess 20230823 (3508) – Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
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. 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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (10. Bc2 c5) 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
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, Gajewski Gambit 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 d5
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo 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 c6 11. d4 Qc7
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.