Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C77, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3. 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 1,176 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… b5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 61; best line 5… Be7 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3)
- ECO
- C77
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B3P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 438 | |
| 1500-1999 | 533 | |
| 2000+ | 205 | |
| All | 1,176 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… b5 | 500 (43%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 239 (20%) | |
| 5… d6 | 130 (11%) | |
| 5… Bb4 | 128 (11%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 119 (10%) | |
| 5… d5 | 19 (2%) | |
| 5… Nd4 | 12 (1%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 9 (1%) |
Master games
1,827 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 30%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) 1/2-1/2 · 12th Norway Chess 2024 · 2024-06-07
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2773) 1-0 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-23
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) 1-0 · 14th Norway Chess 2026 · 2026-05-31
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Vincent Keymer (2738) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2023 · 2023-12-27
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2727) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 1/2-1/2 · CCT Final Playoff 2023 · 2023-12-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmbrewchess (2947) – Sunrise34 (2854) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM gmbrewchess (2997) – FM dclasby (2772) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Leon_Sigma_Kennedy (2731) – MmknRobok (2643) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (3. Bb5 a6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
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.