Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation 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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 140 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6. d3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O Bd3 8. Re1 Be7)
- ECO
- C74
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/1pp3pp/p1np4/4pp2/B3P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 60 | |
| 2000+ | 77 | |
| All | 140 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. d3 | 63 (45%) | |
| 6. exf5 | 50 (36%) | |
| 6. d4 | 18 (13%) | |
| 6. Bc2 | 4 (3%) | |
| 6. Bxc6+ | 3 (2%) | |
| 6. O-O | 1 (1%) | |
| 6. Qe2 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
313 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 17%, Black 48%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) – GM B. Adhiban (2655) 1-0 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-02-24
- GM Vladimir Malakhov (2686) – GM Laurent Fressinet (2662) 0-1 · World Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-30
- GM Rauf Mamedov (2646) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2675) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2022 · 2022-12-30
- GM Igor Kovalenko (2639) – GM Laurent Fressinet (2662) 1-0 · European Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-15
- GM Peter Svidler (2723) – IM Szymon Gumularz (2513) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 5th May · 2020-05-05
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
- atsaynm (2644) – slouuuurps (2698) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (6… Bxf5 7. O-O) C74 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O
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.