Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack (10. a4 Bb7)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. a4 Bb7
The Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C89, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. a4 Bb7. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 11. axb5 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.03 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 Bxa8 13. Na3 Na5)
- ECO
- C89
- Moves
- 20 plies
- FEN
r2q1rk1/1bp1bppp/p1n5/1p1np3/P7/1BP2N2/1P1P1PPP/RNBQR1K1 w - - 1 11- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. a4 Bb7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11. axb5 | 2 (67%) | |
| 11. d3 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
9 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 56%, Black 11%). The strongest:
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2689) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2764) 1/2-1/2 · ChessKid Cup Div 1 L · 2023-05-25
- GM Shanglei Lu (2611) – GM Changren Dai (2510) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CHN 2024 · 2024-05-06
- GM Novendra Priasmoro (2499) – GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2573) 1/2-1/2 · 17th Agzamov Mem 2024 · 2024-03-30
- IM Evaggelos Patrelakis (2437) – IM Jonasz Baum (2446) 1-0 · 40th ECC Open 2025 · 2025-10-23
- GM Sarhan Guliev (2224) – IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (2399) 1/2-1/2 · Baku Open 2024 · 2024-07-03
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- koureas25 (2009) – stefan9822 (2074) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 5s
- spandchess (1996) – John005 (2000) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- harrotheidiot (1909) – sawoj (1901) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack (8. c3 d5) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5
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.