Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo 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 c6 11. d4 Qc7

The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo 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 c6 11. d4 Qc7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.64 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 12. Nbd2 c5 13. b3 Bd7 14. Nf1 cxd4)

ECO

C96

Moves

22 plies

FEN

r1b2rk1/2q1bppp/p1pp1n2/np2p3/3PP3/2P2N1P/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 c6 11. d4 Qc7

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

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.