Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (6. d4 f6)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4 f6
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 f6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 17 times by this move order. White won 35%, 6% were drawn and Black won 59%. The most popular continuation is 7. dxe5 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. Be3 Ng6 9. Qe2 Be6)
- ECO
- C73
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/2p3pp/p1pp1p2/4p3/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4 f6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 17 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. dxe5 | 7 (41%) | |
| 7. Nc3 | 4 (24%) | |
| 7. h3 | 2 (12%) | |
| 7. O-O | 2 (12%) | |
| 7. c4 | 1 (6%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
165 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 20%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) 0-1 · C'Chartres Rapid&Blitz m · 2020-12-06
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2700) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2703) 1-0 · Smyslov Region Group Cup · 2021-08-16
- GM Levon Aronian (2747) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2654) 1-0 · Chess.com Classic Play-In · 2025-05-19
- GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2598) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2686) 0-1 · Chessable Masters Play-In · 2023-03-13
- GM Aleksandar Indjic (2612) – GM Anton Demchenko (2671) 1-0 · Portugal Open 2018 · 2018-02-08
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
- Erarxady (2664) – iyisatranc (2556) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Aleksei_Bykov (2493) – zyz7 (2508) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
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
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.