Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C77, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,907 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… b5 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.04 (Stockfish, depth 62; best line 5… Bc5 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3)
- ECO
- C77
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B3P3/3P1N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 593 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,267 | |
| 2000+ | 2,047 | |
| All | 4,907 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… b5 | 2,640 (54%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 846 (17%) | |
| 5… d6 | 767 (16%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 346 (7%) | |
| 5… h6 | 170 (3%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 46 (1%) | |
| 5… d5 | 41 (1%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 19 (0%) |
Master games
10,176 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 24%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – Komodo 2503.05 (3912) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-28
- Komodo 2503.05 (3912) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-24
- ScorpioNN 3.0.7.1 (3812) – Komodo 2503.05 (3912) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-05
- Komodo 2503.05 (3912) – ScorpioNN 3.0.7.1 (3812) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-02
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2818) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2019 · 2019-08-13
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- evg85 (2812) – IM khubushka2007 (2785) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- IM wLh26 (2812) – Hercule_Poirot-20 (2760) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- hadishahod (2765) – OptimistischesSchach (2799) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (3. Bb5 a6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Duras Variation C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c4
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.