Ruy Lopez: Closed, Trajkovic Counterattack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Trajkovic Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO C88, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7. 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 29 times by this move order. White won 41%, 4% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 8. c3 (76% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5)
- ECO
- C88
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/1bppbppp/p1n2n2/1p2p3/4P3/1B3N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQR1K1 w kq - 2 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 29 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. c3 | 22 (76%) | |
| 8. d3 | 3 (10%) | |
| 8. d4 | 3 (10%) | |
| 8. a4 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
97 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 24%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2743) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2717) 1-0 · Jerusalem Masters 2025 · 2025-12-01
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Alexandr Predke (2682) 1-0 · World Rapid 2021 · 2021-12-27
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2717) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2700) 0-1 · GCT Super Rapid Poland · 2026-05-07
- GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2651) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2731) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2025-26 · 2026-04-26
- GM Raunak Sadhwani (2609) – GM Alexandr Predke (2666) 0-1 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 · 2021-11-03
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Trajkovic Counterattack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- legko2019 (2671) – Shahin_Za_Shiraz (2543) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- CM SouthAfricanWolf (2583) – tommy_pug (2539) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- qzrchess77 (2551) – Shahin_Za_Shiraz (2537) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Closed (6… b5 7. Bb3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3
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.