Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Romanovsky Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 f6 6. d3
The Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Romanovsky 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 f6 6. d3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 53 times by this move order. White won 49%, 8% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bb4 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.24 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 6… Bd6 7. Nd2 Be6 8. Nc4 Bb4 9. Bd2)
- ECO
- C68
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/1pp3pp/p1p2p2/4p3/4P3/2NP1N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 f6 6. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 25 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 53 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bb4 | 14 (26%) | |
| 6… Bc5 | 10 (19%) | |
| 6… Bd6 | 6 (11%) | |
| 6… Be6 | 6 (11%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 6 (11%) | |
| 6… c5 | 6 (11%) | |
| 6… Ne7 | 3 (6%) | |
| 6… b5 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
30 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 26%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- Ethereal14.35 (3523) – Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-29
- Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) – Ethereal14.35 (3523) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-27
- GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2606) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2728) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 9th Apr Late · 2024-04-09
- GM Murali Karthikeyan (2593) – GM B. Adhiban (2676) 1-0 · 18th Asian Continental · 2019-06-12
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2563) – GM Benjamin Bok (2607) 1/2-1/2 · PRO League Prelim 2023 · 2023-03-10
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Romanovsky Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Mister_Alias (2209) – akazzdx (2299) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- Sefuda (2099) – julya1604 (2086) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Maro0o0 (2050) – MrFran (2052) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Keres Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3
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.