Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7

The Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 15,041 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. O-O (39% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.39 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 4. Nc3 Ng6 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxd4 exd4)

ECO: C60
Moves: 6 plies
FEN: r1bqkb1r/ppppnppp/2n5/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 4 4
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	6,885	51%45%
1500-1999	6,958	51%45%
2000+	1,198	46%48%
All	15,041	50%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
4. O-O	5,844 (39%)	51%45%
4. c3	2,101 (14%)	51%45%
4. Nc3	1,993 (13%)	52%43%
4. Bxc6	1,639 (11%)	45%50%
4. d4	1,519 (10%)	50%45%
4. d3	1,466 (10%)	52%44%
4. h3	116 (1%)	54%41%
4. a3	105 (1%)	54%42%

Master games

3,657 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 21%, Black 38%). The strongest:

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 1-0 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-22
GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1-0 · Chessable Masters Winners · 2025-02-19
GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2020 · 2020-09-19
GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2793) 1-0 · Saint Louis Rapid 2024 · 2024-08-12
GM Fabiano Caruana (2783) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1/2-1/2 · Champions Showdown Kings · 2025-03-04

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

IM Kostik_Mostik (2906) – IM shuriks91 (2789) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Sunrise34 (2873) – FM stanbad1 (2728) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
GM sillyMASTER (2843) – AnonymousBrownGuy (2728) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation C60 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 g6

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.