Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6

The Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 806 times by this move order. White won 46%, 5% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4. O-O (35% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.44 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 a6 6. Bc4 d6)

ECO: C60
Moves: 6 plies
FEN: r1bqkbnr/pppp1p1p/2n3p1/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 4
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	244	52%43%
1500-1999	282	51%44%
2000+	280	36%58%
All	806	46%49%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
4. O-O	284 (35%)	44%51%
4. Bxc6	211 (26%)	52%42%
4. c3	93 (12%)	40%54%
4. d4	92 (11%)	43%54%
4. Nc3	63 (8%)	51%44%
4. d3	48 (6%)	42%54%
4. h3	3 (0%)	33%34%33%
4. h4	3 (0%)	100%

Master games

3,200 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 24%, Black 39%). The strongest:

GM Viswanathan Anand (2804) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) 0-1 · 3rd Norway Blitz 2015 · 2015-06-15
GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2877) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Sinquefield Cup 2014 · 2014-08-28
GM Anish Giri (2773) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd Norway Blitz 2015 · 2015-06-15
GM Fabiano Caruana (2816) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2808) 0-1 · GCT Rapid YourNextMove · 2018-06-13
GM Sergey Karjakin (2769) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2844) 1/2-1/2 · 78th Tata Steel GpA · 2016-01-24

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Qvagmire (2803) – IM shuriks91 (2845) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Master1970 (2712) – IM shuriks91 (2809) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
CM JoeAssaad (2671) – T-Stevenson (2654) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

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

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense, Kevitz Gambit C60 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 f5
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation C76 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 a6 5. Ba4 d6 6. d4 Bd7
Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Tartakower Gambit C60 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nge7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qd2 d5

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.