Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Neo-Arkhangelsk Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Neo-Arkhangelsk Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C78, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5. 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 1,336 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 7. c3 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. a4 Bb7 8. c3 d6 9. d4 Bb6)
- ECO
- C78
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/2pp1ppp/p1n2n2/1pb1p3/4P3/1B3N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 70 | |
| 1500-1999 | 590 | |
| 2000+ | 676 | |
| All | 1,336 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. c3 | 698 (52%) | |
| 7. Re1 | 193 (14%) | |
| 7. d3 | 185 (14%) | |
| 7. Nxe5 | 116 (9%) | |
| 7. a4 | 71 (5%) | |
| 7. h3 | 27 (2%) | |
| 7. Qe2 | 14 (1%) | |
| 7. Nc3 | 12 (1%) |
Master games
5,968 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 26%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1/2-1/2 · Carlsen Inv Prelim · 2020-04-22
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Levon Aronian (2781) 1/2-1/2 · NIC Classic Prelim 2021 · 2021-04-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 13th Jun Early · 2023-06-13
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Neo-Arkhangelsk Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM EmirSharshenbek (2736) – LOVEHRJ (2748) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Romasym (2581) – Superstitions_Guy (2813) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Meatloaf927 (2730) – sophiaknowthatuandi (2573) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (4… Nf6 5. O-O) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 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.