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

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 87654321abcdefgh

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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 896 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 6. Re1 (42% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.35 (Stockfish, depth 64; best line 6. c3 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 b5)

ECO
C79
Moves
10 plies
FEN
r1bqkb1r/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/4p3/B3P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 6
PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-149912448%50%
1500-199950650%46%
2000+26652%42%
All89650%45%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
6. Re1375 (42%)52%44%
6. c3158 (18%)53%42%
6. d4131 (15%)50%44%
6. h394 (10%)44%53%
6. d375 (8%)41%51%
6. Bxc6+26 (3%)50%42%
6. Nc321 (2%)43%52%
6. c47 (1%)43%57%

Master games

2,231 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 27%, Black 34%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

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

Continuations

More Ruy Lopez lines (all)

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.