Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. a4 Nxd4
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense 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 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. a4 Nxd4. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 9. Nxd4 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.33 (Stockfish, depth 26; best line 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Nd2 Be7 11. axb5 O-O)
- ECO
- C80
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/2p2ppp/p7/1p1pp3/P2nn3/1B3N2/1PP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. a4 Nxd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Nxd4 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 50%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Mykola Bortnyk (2400) – GM Dennis Wagner (2616) 1-0 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM Alessio Valsecchi (2490) – IM Quentin Loiseau (2412) 1/2-1/2 · 40th Cappelle Open 2024 · 2024-03-07
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Hammurapi65 (2518) – MehdiGm1997 (2377) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Open (6… b5 7. Bb3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Berger Variation C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. a4 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Nc3
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.