Ruy Lopez: Closed, Smyslov 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 h6
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Smyslov Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C93, 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 h6. 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 21 times by this move order. White won 29%, 9% were drawn and Black won 62%. The most popular continuation is 10. d4 (90% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 10. d4 Bd7 11. Bc2 Re8 12. Nbd2 a5)
- ECO
- C93
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/2p1bpp1/p1np1n1p/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2N1P/PP1P1PP1/RNBQR1K1 w - - 0 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 h6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 16 | |
| All | 21 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. d4 | 19 (90%) | |
| 10. a3 | 1 (5%) | |
| 10. d3 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
253 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 39%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2751) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) 0-1 · 7th Gashimov Mem Rapid · 2021-12-21
- GM David Navara (2710) – GM Sergei Azarov (2618) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE Extraliga 2012-13 · 2013-03-23
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2675) – GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista (2623) 1-0 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-04
- GM Martin Kraemer (2571) – GM Anton Korobov (2691) 1-0 · Aeroflot Open A 2017 · 2017-02-21
- GM Alexei Shirov (2679) – GM Sergei Azarov (2577) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE Extraliga 2016-17 · 2017-01-29
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Smyslov Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chess_legend_rus (2493) – SuperSayienZ (2372) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- shadowkg9 (2426) – MimiTheBest (2433) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Darkoni93 (2404) – Achanich (2374) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
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.