Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (3. Bb5 a6)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6

The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C70, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 16 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 61,746 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4. Ba4 (60% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5)

ECO: C70
Moves: 6 plies
FEN: r1bqkbnr/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 4
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	21,401	52%44%
1500-1999	26,310	51%44%
2000+	14,035	49%44%
All	61,746	51%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
4. Ba4	36,922 (60%)	52%43%
4. Bxc6 Exchange Variation	23,655 (38%)	50%44%
4. Bc4	848 (1%)	47%49%
4. O-O	83 (0%)	29%67%
4. Be2	54 (0%)	57%39%
4. Nc3	44 (0%)	34%66%
4. Bd3	33 (0%)	36%64%
4. d3	24 (0%)	17%79%

Master games

297 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 29%, Black 29%). The strongest:

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2757) 1/2-1/2 · Quantbox Chennai GM 2026 · 2026-07-17
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2734) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2771) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2023 · 2023-11-15
GM Alireza Firouzja (2766) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2679) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Jul Late · 2025-07-15
GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2672) – GM Richard Rapport (2735) 1/2-1/2 · 47th GM 2019 · 2019-07-21
GM V Pranav (2670) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2717) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-TUR Super League 2026 · 2026-08-06

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Sunrise34 (2861) – GM cutemouse83 (2967) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
GM gmbrewchess (2947) – Sunrise34 (2854) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
FM dclasby (2775) – GM gmbrewchess (2994) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation C68 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6
Ruy Lopez: Bird's Defense Deferred C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nd4
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Alapin's Defense Deferred C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bb4
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Caro Variation C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Classical Defense Deferred C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Cozio Defense C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nge7
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Fianchetto Defense Deferred C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 g6
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (4. Ba4 d6) C71 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Schliemann Defense Deferred C70 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 f5
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense (4… Nf6 5. O-O) C78 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Bayreuth Variation C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Jaffe Gambit C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. c3
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Mackenzie Variation C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Wormald Attack C77 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2

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.