Ruy Lopez: Open, Classical Defense, Main Line
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
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Classical Defense, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C83, reached after 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. 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 5 times by this move order. White won 60%, 0% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 10… O-O (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 10… O-O 11. h3 Qd7 12. Nbd2 Nc5 13. Bc2)
- ECO
- C83
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/2p1bppp/p1n1b3/1p1pP3/4n3/1BP2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b kq - 0 10- PGN
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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… O-O | 5 (100%) |
Master games
88 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 28%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2794) 1-0 · CCT Final KO 2023 · 2023-12-14
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) – GM Levon Aronian (2747) 1-0 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM Nils Grandelius (2689) – GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2605) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 · 2023-10-27
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) – IM Semen Khanin (2482) 1/2-1/2 · PNWCC Online Blitz JP 8 · 2020-05-02
- GM Vahap Sanal (2595) – GM Stepan Zilka (2615) 1-0 · World Rapid 2023 · 2023-12-28
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open, Classical Defense, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2846) – GM enmQ (2784) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Sawa-169 (2507) – IM plamia (2555) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Michael_Burns (2299) – PoisedDiverBeetle (2390) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
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
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.