Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Bayreuth Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Bayreuth Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C77, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6. 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 157 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5… dxc6 (98% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5… dxc6 6. Nc3 Be6 7. Qe2 Bd6 8. d4)
- ECO
- C77
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1B2n2/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 37 | |
| 1500-1999 | 38 | |
| 2000+ | 82 | |
| All | 157 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… dxc6 | 154 (98%) | |
| 5… bxc6 | 3 (2%) |
Master games
658 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 30%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2744) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-06
- GM Liren Ding (2791) – GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2726) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-22
- GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2721) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2757) 0-1 · Shusha Chess Blitz 2022 · 2022-09-24
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2707) – GM Samuel Sevian (2684) 1-0 · Chess.com RCC Wk24 Swiss · 2022-08-06
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2707) – GM Jaime Santos Latasa (2680) 1-0 · TCh-ESP Rapid 2022 · 2022-09-25
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Bayreuth Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2859) – Jiordani_Jovanovich (2827) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- strizibuba (2518) – ili_hoji (2645) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- strizibuba (2552) – onthewaygm (2601) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (3. Bb5 a6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
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.