Ruy Lopez: Nürnberg Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f6
The Ruy Lopez: Nürnberg Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,779 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bxc6 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.02 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 a6 6. Bc4 d6)
- ECO
- C60
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp2pp/2n2p2/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,744 | |
| 1500-1999 | 999 | |
| 2000+ | 36 | |
| All | 3,779 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bxc6 | 1,292 (34%) | |
| 4. O-O | 1,025 (27%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 428 (11%) | |
| 4. d4 | 353 (9%) | |
| 4. c3 | 288 (8%) | |
| 4. d3 | 239 (6%) | |
| 4. Nh4 | 43 (1%) | |
| 4. a3 | 39 (1%) |
Master games
49 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 90%, draw 2%, Black 8%). The strongest:
- IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2404) – FM Artin Ashraf (2383) 1-0 · Abu Dhabi Masters Online · 2024-08-21
- FM Deniz Arman (2352) – Jos Dekker (1838) 1-0 · 46th Ghent Open 2025 · 2025-07-19
- Dragan Bulatovic (2234) – Nusret Husovic (1927) 1-0 · TCh-MNE 1st League 2018 · 2018-09-30
- FM Pero Ascic (2306) – Slavko Jelic (1773) 1-0 · 21st Bosnjaci Open · 2016-01-03
- Ranveer Mohite (2236) – Binod Kafle (1191) 1-0 · 4th IIFL Wealth Mumbai Op · 2018-12-30
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Nürnberg Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Lerno1957 (2388) – Sthandoon (2266) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Athena88 (2267) – marc100 (2244) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Kostalex89 (2265) – meksi-kurti (2231) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- 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: Pollock Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Retreat 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.