Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Gligoric Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6
The Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Gligoric Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C69, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6. 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 838 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 6. d4 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Be6)
- ECO
- C69
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/1pp3pp/p1p2p2/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 120 | |
| 1500-1999 | 362 | |
| 2000+ | 356 | |
| All | 838 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. d4 | 491 (59%) | |
| 6. c3 | 73 (9%) | |
| 6. d3 | 68 (8%) | |
| 6. h3 | 55 (7%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 53 (6%) | |
| 6. Nxe5 | 50 (6%) | |
| 6. Re1 | 26 (3%) | |
| 6. Nh4 | 8 (1%) |
Master games
1,391 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 32%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Gata Kamsky (2741) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 0-1 · Sinquefield Cup 2013 · 2013-09-13
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2783) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2769) 0-1 · 1st FIDE GP London 2012 · 2012-09-29
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2746) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2018-11-14
- GM Romain Edouard (2664) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2771) 1/2-1/2 · Trophee Karpov Preliminary 2012 · 2012-10-28
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2735) – GM Markus Ragger (2688) 0-1 · Ragger-Mamedyarov m 2015 · 2015-08-22
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Gligoric Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- winx_m (2935) – NM Andrey11976 (2799) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- winx_m (2943) – NM Andrey11976 (2792) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- winx_m (2949) – NM Andrey11976 (2785) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O
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.