Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Variation
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. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6
The Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Variation 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. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 441 times by this move order. White won 41%, 6% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 12. d4 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 12. d3 Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Qh4)
- ECO
- C89
- Moves
- 22 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/4bppp/p1p5/1p1nR3/8/1BP5/PP1P1PPP/RNBQ2K1 w - - 0 12- 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. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 205 | |
| 2000+ | 231 | |
| All | 441 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 12. d4 Marshall Attack, Main Line | 299 (68%) | |
| 12. d3 | 52 (12%) | |
| 12. Bxd5 | 42 (10%) | |
| 12. Re1 | 23 (5%) | |
| 12. Qf3 | 6 (1%) | |
| 12. Qe2 | 5 (1%) | |
| 12. g3 | 4 (1%) | |
| 12. h3 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
601 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 42%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-07-31
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-07-31
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2870) – GM Liren Ding (2801) 1-0 · Tata Steel India Rapid · 2019-11-24
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2791) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1/2-1/2 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015 · 2015-04-17
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2804) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 6th May Early · 2025-05-06
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Buyofl (2711) – Chess1Love0 (2784) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM Buyofl (2689) – Chess1Love0 (2793) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM mick_chess (2758) – IM Hripach007 (2682) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Main Line C89 · 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. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4
- Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Re3 Variation C89 · 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. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. Bxd5 cxd5 13. d4 Bd6 14. Re3
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.