Ruy Lopez: Open, Riga Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 exd4
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Riga 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. d4 exd4. 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 72 times by this move order. White won 51%, 7% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 7. Re1 (85% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.16 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 7. Re1 f5 8. Nxd4 Qh4 9. g3 Qf6)
- ECO
- C80
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/8/B2pn3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 exd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 31 | |
| 2000+ | 26 | |
| All | 72 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Re1 | 61 (85%) | |
| 7. Nxd4 | 10 (14%) | |
| 7. Bxc6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
134 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 30%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- GM Kaido Kulaots (2548) – GM Sarunas Sulskis (2539) 1-0 · TCh-FIN 2019-20 · 2020-02-09
- GM Dmitry Kokarev (2616) – IM Semen Virovlansky (2471) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Polugaevsky Mem · 2012-07-08
- GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez (2624) – IM Justin Sarkar (2375) 1-0 · 11th Philadelphia Int · 2017-06-24
- IM Vahap Sanal (2418) – GM Sarunas Sulskis (2567) 1/2-1/2 · Nakhchivan Open A 2013 · 2013-04-26
- GM Markus Ragger (2664) – FM Jan Malik (2288) 1/2-1/2 · sachy.cz Extraliga 2021-22 · 2022-02-26
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open, Riga Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- janusz59 (2351) – legendgaming00 (2361) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- janusz59 (2351) – legendgaming00 (2361) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- Volkov_Sergey (2254) – FM Pdiazmino (2345) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 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.