Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Lutikov Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6
The Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Lutikov Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C68, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6. 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 4,597 times by this move order. White won 57%, 5% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nxe5 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Qf6 7. Qa4 Bc5)
- ECO
- C68
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/2pp1ppp/p1p5/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,689 | |
| 1500-1999 | 847 | |
| 2000+ | 61 | |
| All | 4,597 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nxe5 | 2,301 (50%) | |
| 5. O-O | 933 (20%) | |
| 5. d4 | 433 (9%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 383 (8%) | |
| 5. d3 | 382 (8%) | |
| 5. h3 | 60 (1%) | |
| 5. c3 | 58 (1%) | |
| 5. c4 | 14 (0%) |
Master games
103 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 59%, draw 15%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- Berserk 20241119 (3589) – LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-04
- LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) – Berserk 20241119 (3589) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-01
- Ethereal 14.06 (3532) – Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-24
- Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) – Ethereal 14.06 (3532) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-21
- GM Etienne Bacrot (2684) – FM Viacheslav Malyi (2391) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 28th May Early · 2024-05-28
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Lutikov Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM liczner (2758) – Superstitions_Guy (2826) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- kasparik_garik (2622) – Superstitions_Guy (2820) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- ShadowNinja7i (2620) – Huinhtan123 (2368) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6
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.