Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tartakower Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Qe2
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tartakower Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C80, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Qe2. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nc5 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Nc5 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. d4 Ne6 9. dxe5)
- ECO
- C80
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/4p3/B3n3/5N2/PPPPQPPP/RNB2RK1 b kq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Qe2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nc5 | 4 (67%) | |
| 6… Ng5 | 1 (17%) | |
| 6… Nf6 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 30%, draw 20%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- FM Sean Vibbert (2312) – GM Alexander Fishbein (2499) 1/2-1/2 · 24th Chicago Open 2015 · 2015-05-23
- FM Michal Bartel (2273) – IM Daniel Semcesen (2479) 0-1 · 29th Open · 2013-02-26
- FM Ariel Tokman (2316) – IM Valeriy Grinev (2425) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 20th July · 2021-07-20
- IM Vladimir Lukovic (2440) – FM Evgeny V. Melikhov (2189) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Nov Early · 2023-11-28
- Svetoslav Mihajlov (2192) – Benjamin Haldorsen (2184) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-NOR Elite 2014-15 · 2015-01-10
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tartakower Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM MHanDaMan (2324) – ThomasIndigo (2240) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- RX_RX (2247) – Fritzka (2277) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Stig49 (2210) – Osechka (2183) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Open (5. O-O Nxe4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4
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.