Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (6… Bxf5 7. O-O)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O
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 f5 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O. 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 27 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 7… Bd3 (70% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.24 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 7… Bd3 8. Re1 Be7 9. Qb3 b5 10. Qd5)
- ECO
- C74
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r2qkbnr/1pp3pp/p1np4/4pb2/B7/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 27 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Bd3 | 19 (70%) | |
| 7… Nf6 | 7 (26%) | |
| 7… Bg4 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
220 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 30%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2828) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2726) 1/2-1/2 · Champions Showdown Rapid · 2019-02-21
- GM Peter Svidler (2723) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2703) 0-1 · Pepe Cuenca Invitational · 2020-04-14
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2732) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2626) 1-0 · World Rapid 2025 · 2025-12-27
- GM Ray Robson (2670) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2674) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup · 2020-03-07
- GM Nils Grandelius (2643) – GM B. Adhiban (2666) 0-1 · World Rapid 2016 · 2016-12-27
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- 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
- Meatloaf927 (2703) – TwilightX6M2200Magic (2552) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation 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.