Ruy Lopez: Closed, Kholmov Variation
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 Be6
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Kholmov Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C92, 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 Be6. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 25%, 25% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 10. Bc2 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. d4 Qd7 12. a4 h6)
- ECO
- C92
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r2q1rk1/2p1bppp/p1npbn2/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2N1P/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 Be6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Bc2 | 2 (50%) | |
| 10. d4 | 2 (50%) |
Master games
102 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 42%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2734) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2023 · 2023-11-14
- GM Yi Wei (2753) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2769) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2025 · 2025-11-17
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2727) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2734) 1/2-1/2 · AI Cup Div 1 W · 2023-09-26
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Naroditsky, D. (2623) 1/2-1/2 · Aimchess US Rapid Prelim · 2021-08-29
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2760) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2610) 1-0 · Chessable Masters Div 1 L · 2024-02-04
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Kholmov Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM Mysterious-Master (2546) – IM Revan_2002 (2609) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Portomas (2418) – alienboy1394 (2437) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- sgrig1959 (2309) – psilber (2278) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
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
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.