Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (5… bxc6 6. d4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C73, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4. 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 65 times by this move order. White won 51%, 14% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 6… exd4 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 6… exd4 7. Qxd4 Nf6 8. Nc3 c5 9. Qd3)
- ECO
- C73
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/2p2ppp/p1pp4/4p3/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 22 | |
| 2000+ | 35 | |
| All | 65 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… exd4 | 26 (40%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 17 (26%) | |
| 6… f6 Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (6. d4 f6) | 17 (26%) | |
| 6… Nf6 | 4 (6%) | |
| 6… Bb7 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
297 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 23%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Yangyi Yu (2751) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2799) 1-0 · 2nd IMSA Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-12
- GM Mateusz Bartel (2622) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2726) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Mateusz Bartel (2634) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2704) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-27
- GM Ray Robson (2673) – GM Dariusz Swiercz (2659) 1/2-1/2 · PRO League Group Stage · 2020-01-13
- GM Anton Filippov (2615) – GM Eltaj Safarli (2649) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-TUR Super League 2014 · 2014-08-22
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Rumple_DarkOne (2588) – kuhmft (2818) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- SexDrugsRnR (2583) – Mallorca10Barcelona (2696) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Erarxady (2664) – iyisatranc (2556) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (6. d4 f6) C73 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4 f6
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.