Ruy Lopez: Closed, Suetin 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. a3

The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Suetin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C90, 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. a3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black 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: +0.02 (Stockfish, depth 26; best line 9… Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4)

ECO: C90
Moves: 17 plies
FEN: r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/4P3/PBP2N2/1P1P1PPP/RNBQR1K1 b - - 0 9
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. a3

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

Master games

15 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 33%, Black 40%). The strongest:

GM Alexander Grischuk (2763) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 0-1 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-10
GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Quang Liem Le (2709) 1-0 · Aimchess US Rapid Prelim · 2021-08-28
GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista (2707) – GM Diego Flores (2586) 1/2-1/2 · VIII American Continental 2013 · 2013-05-13
GM Ivan Morovic Fernandez (2572) – GM Kamil Dragun (2599) 0-1 · 51st Capablanca Mem Prem · 2016-06-12
GM Ruben Felgaer (2586) – IM Leonardo Tristan (2457) 1/2-1/2 · 88th ch-ARG Superior 2013 · 2013-08-28

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Suetin Variation and its sub-variations

Comes from

Ruy Lopez: Closed (8. c3 O-O) 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

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.