Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (4… d6 5. c4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c4
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C71, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c4. 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 31 times by this move order. White won 48%, 13% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bg4 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 5… Bg4 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Be7 8. O-O)
- ECO
- C71
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/1pp2ppp/p1np4/4p3/B1P1P3/5N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 9 | |
| 2000+ | 17 | |
| All | 31 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bg4 | 9 (29%) | |
| 5… Bd7 | 9 (29%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 7 (23%) | |
| 5… f5 | 3 (10%) | |
| 5… g5 | 1 (3%) | |
| 5… Ne7 | 1 (3%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
299 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 29%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Gukesh D (2752) 1-0 · Clutch Chess: Champions · 2025-10-29
- GM Alexander Donchenko (2631) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2747) 0-1 · Titled Tue 14th May Early · 2024-05-14
- GM Michael Adams (2676) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2677) 1-0 · 7th Salamanca Masters · 2024-05-25
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Zaven Andriasian (2611) 1-0 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-26
- GM Ilia Smirin (2607) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 0-1 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-28
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Mischuk_D (2667) – slouuurps (2735) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Barry_Lindon (2574) – slouuurps (2714) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM Lenyas66 (2610) – Akula_Krakula (2662) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (4. Ba4 d6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6
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.