Ruy Lopez: Closed (5. O-O Be7)

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

The Ruy Lopez: Closed 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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 7 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,456 times by this move order. White won 49%, 7% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6. Re1 (74% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.24 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7)

ECO: C84
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqk2r/1pppbppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B3P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 4 6
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	169	56%40%
1500-1999	1,714	49%46%
2000+	2,573	49%43%
All	4,456	49%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. Re1	3,315 (74%)	49%44%
6. c3	378 (8%)	46%49%
6. d3 Closed, Martinez Variation	350 (8%)	52%41%
6. Bxc6 Closed, Delayed Exchange	156 (4%)	51%13%36%
6. d4 Closed, Center Attack	139 (3%)	54%44%
6. Nc3 Closed, Morphy Attack	65 (1%)	49%43%
6. Qe2 Closed, Worrall Attack	31 (1%)	61%29%
6. h3	13 (0%)	31%62%

Master games

377 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 17%, Black 46%). The strongest:

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2731) – GM Vincent Keymer (2733) 1-0 · CCT Final Survival L 2024 · 2024-12-19
GM Raunak Sadhwani (2627) – GM Daniil Dubov (2708) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters Div 2 L · 2023-02-07
IM Harshid Kunka (2472) – GM Viktor Matviishen (2542) 1/2-1/2 · CCCSA Fall GMA 2025 · 2025-11-25
GM Lukasz Cyborowski (2546) – IM Pavel Simacek (2467) 1/2-1/2 · XXV Jirasek Mem 2013 · 2013-08-17
GM Etienne Bacrot (2653) – FM Tom O`Gorman (2357) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Feb Late · 2023-02-07

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Sunrise34 (2861) – GM cutemouse83 (2967) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
FM dclasby (2775) – GM gmbrewchess (2994) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
GladiatorDefence (2802) – GM cutemouse83 (2917) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (4… Nf6 5. O-O) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Center Attack C84 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange C85 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Martinez Variation C84 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Morphy Attack C84 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Worrall Attack C86 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Qe2
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Averbakh Variation C87 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 d6
Ruy Lopez: Closed (6… b5 7. Bb3) C88 · 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)

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.