Ruy Lopez: Closed, Martinez Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Martinez Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C84, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3. 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 350 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6… b5 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 6… b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. Bc2)
- ECO
- C84
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pppbppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B3P3/3P1N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 124 | |
| 2000+ | 213 | |
| All | 350 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… b5 | 284 (81%) | |
| 6… d6 | 50 (14%) | |
| 6… O-O | 15 (4%) | |
| 6… h6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
7,152 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 35%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-07
- LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-04
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) – GM Liren Ding (2805) 0-1 · 7th Sinquefield Cup TB · 2019-08-29
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2804) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) 1-0 · 3rd Norway Chess 2015 · 2015-06-19
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) – GM Levon Aronian (2780) 1-0 · 3rd Norway Chess 2015 · 2015-06-24
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Martinez Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Super_FanZhendong (2895) – NM Andrey11976 (2797) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GM Super_FanZhendong (2885) – NM Andrey11976 (2801) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2867) – NM Andrey11976 (2789) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed (5. O-O Be7) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7
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.