Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (4… d6 5. c3)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C74, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 816 times by this move order. White won 54%, 4% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bd7 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5… f5 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O Bd3 8. Re1)
- ECO
- C74
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/1pp2ppp/p1np4/4p3/B3P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 94 | |
| 1500-1999 | 450 | |
| 2000+ | 272 | |
| All | 816 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bd7 Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (5. c3 Bd7) | 213 (26%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 193 (24%) | |
| 5… f5 Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation | 140 (17%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 117 (14%) | |
| 5… b5 | 65 (8%) | |
| 5… Qf6 | 21 (3%) | |
| 5… g5 | 17 (2%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 17 (2%) |
Master games
449 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 26%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2774) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2755) 1-0 · Makedonia Palace GP · 2013-05-23
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open KO 2020 · 2020-11-25
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2712) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2747) 0-1 · IMSA Blitz 2016 · 2016-02-28
- GM Kurnosov, I. (2663) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2769) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid Final · 2012-07-06
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FNENAD (2611) – kuhmft (2861) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- KhatanbaatarGM (2701) – slouuurps (2742) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Meatloaf927 (2710) – FM The_Fawkes (2645) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
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 (5. c3 Bd7) C75 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 Bd7
- Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation C74 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5
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.