Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 g6
The Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 g6. 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 297 times by this move order. White won 54%, 4% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5. d3 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.58 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O)
- ECO
- C60
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppppnp1p/2n3p1/1B2p3/4P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 126 | |
| 1500-1999 | 141 | |
| 2000+ | 30 | |
| All | 297 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. d3 | 91 (31%) | |
| 5. d4 | 78 (26%) | |
| 5. O-O | 56 (19%) | |
| 5. Nd5 | 30 (10%) | |
| 5. Bxc6 | 17 (6%) | |
| 5. h3 | 11 (4%) | |
| 5. a3 | 7 (2%) | |
| 5. b3 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
286 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 23%, Black 22%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM David W L Howell (2658) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 9th Mar · 2021-03-09
- GM David Navara (2726) – GM Sergei Movsesian (2653) 1-0 · Michal Konopka 50 Blitz · 2016-03-31
- GM Anish Giri (2776) – GM Matthieu Cornette (2590) 1-0 · TCh-FRA Top 12 2015 · 2015-06-07
- GM Alexei Shirov (2689) – GM Sergei Movsesian (2666) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE Extraliga 2015-16 · 2016-01-09
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2702) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2641) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk5 Swiss · 2022-03-12
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ex-champion (2542) – Stallion28 (2558) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Sait-0505 (2520) – Stallion28 (2557) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- qzrchess77 (2533) – siamak_pirmaleki (2409) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7
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, 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
- Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Retreat 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.