Ruy Lopez: Closed, Morphy Attack

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Morphy Attack after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3 87654321abcdefgh

The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Morphy Attack 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. Nc3. 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 65 times by this move order. White won 49%, 8% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 6… b5 (69% of games).

Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 6… b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 Bg4 9. h3)

ECO
C84
Moves
11 plies
FEN
r1bqk2r/1pppbppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B3P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 5 6
PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3

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

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-14991155%36%
1500-19993554%43%
2000+1937%16%47%
All6549%43%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
6… b545 (69%)42%47%
6… d611 (17%)55%45%
6… O-O9 (14%)78%22%

Master games

129 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 23%, Black 40%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Morphy Attack and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

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)

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.