Ruy Lopez: Closed, Keres Defense
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
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Keres 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 11. d4 Nd7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16 times by this move order. White won 50%, 12% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 12. Nbd2 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.64 (Stockfish, depth 43; best line 12. d5 Nc4 13. b3 Ncb6 14. Nbd2 g6)
- ECO
- C96
- Moves
- 22 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/3nbppp/p2p4/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 Nd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 16 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 12. Nbd2 | 8 (50%) | |
| 12. d5 | 5 (31%) | |
| 12. a4 | 3 (19%) |
Master games
1,047 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 31%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Yifan Hou (2680) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) 0-1 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-21
- GM Ernesto Inarkiev (2732) – GM Peter Svidler (2745) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2016-17 · 2016-11-19
- GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez (2627) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-01-31
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2779) – GM David W L Howell (2644) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2016 · 2016-12-26
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2734) – GM Zahar Efimenko (2689) 1/2-1/2 · St Petersburg Rapid Cup 2012 · 2012-10-05
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Keres 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
- Mohikanac (2519) – Partizan100 (2524) 0-1 · 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
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.