Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Keres Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3
The Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Keres Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C68, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,808 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bd6 (37% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5… Qd6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Qg6 8. Nde2)
- ECO
- C68
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/1pp2ppp/p1p5/4p3/4P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 863 | |
| 1500-1999 | 677 | |
| 2000+ | 268 | |
| All | 1,808 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bd6 | 666 (37%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 361 (20%) | |
| 5… f6 | 261 (14%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 220 (12%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 110 (6%) | |
| 5… Bb4 | 47 (3%) | |
| 5… Qf6 | 33 (2%) | |
| 5… Qd6 | 31 (2%) |
Master games
811 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 28%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2722) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) 1/2-1/2 · American Cup Champ · 2024-03-14
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2744) – GM Liren Ding (2777) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd IMSA Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-13
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2755) – GM Markus Ragger (2670) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Prague Masters 2019 · 2020-02-16
- GM Ediz Gurel (2645) – GM Vincent Keymer (2776) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2025 · 2025-12-26
- GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2700) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2686) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Mar Early · 2023-03-28
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Keres Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vnebo (2687) – Vahe_S (2751) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Vnebo (2656) – FM Crew12 (2697) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Vnebo (2689) – emandr (2593) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Romanovsky Variation C68 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 f6 6. d3
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.