Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred (7. d4 Nxe4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred is a chess opening classified as ECO C79, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4. 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 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 8. dxe5 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 33; best line 8. Re1 f5 9. dxe5 Be7 10. Nc3 O-O)
- ECO
- C79
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/2p2ppp/p1pp4/4p3/3Pn3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. dxe5 | 2 (100%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 20%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- Arjun Kalyan (2408) – Parab Ritviz (2252) 1-0 · 1st Gujarat Open 2018 · 2018-10-09
- CM Maciej Malik (2182) – FM Vjacheslav Weetik (2423) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Sep 2026 · 2026-09-01
- Lars Ootes (2368) – Valentin Buckels (2210) 1/2-1/2 · Dutch League 2014-15 · 2014-11-01
- Luis Felipe Furtado Monteiro (2029) – CM Juan Manuel Garcia Almaguer (2134) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Sep Early · 2023-09-19
- Martin Metev (2025) – Daniil Mihalev (1794) 1-0 · 165th MGU Open 2016 · 2016-03-13
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CaissaSmasher (2046) – Slammonsthickons (2046) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- JeyJey1978 (1922) – chessishard421 (1896) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 5s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred (5. O-O d6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred, Boleslavsky Variation C79 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4 8. Re1 f5 9. dxe5 d5 10. Nc3
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.