Ruy Lopez: Open (5… Nxe4 6. d4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4
The Ruy Lopez: Open 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. d4. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 521 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6… b5 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 6… b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Be3)
- ECO
- C80
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/4p3/B2Pn3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 42 | |
| 1500-1999 | 166 | |
| 2000+ | 313 | |
| All | 521 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… b5 | 354 (68%) | |
| 6… exd4 Open, Riga Variation | 72 (14%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 48 (9%) | |
| 6… d5 | 23 (4%) | |
| 6… Nxd4 | 8 (2%) | |
| 6… Bd6 | 6 (1%) | |
| 6… d6 | 4 (1%) | |
| 6… f6 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
452 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 35%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) – SlowChess Blitz 2.83 avx2 (3490) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-18
- SlowChess Blitz 2.83 avx2 (3490) – ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-16
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2819) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2875) 1/2-1/2 · Croatia GCT 2019 · 2019-06-28
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2780) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) 1/2-1/2 · 11th London Classic 2019 · 2019-12-04
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2780) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) 1/2-1/2 · 11th London Classic 2019 · 2019-12-03
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2846) – GM enmQ (2784) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Towser1 (2690) – GM enmQ (2814) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Meatloaf927 (2731) – GgangbuVip (2687) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Riga Variation C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 exd4
- Ruy Lopez: Open (6… b5 7. Bb3) C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Friess Attack C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Nxe5
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Richter Variation C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. d5
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Classical Defense, Main Line C83 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. Bb3 d5 9. dxe5 Be6 10. c3
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.