Ruy Lopez: Open (5. O-O Nxe4)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4

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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,256 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6. Re1 (53% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 64; best line 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6)

ECO: C80
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/4p3/B3n3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 6
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	227	59%39%
1500-1999	457	49%45%
2000+	572	47%45%
All	1,256	50%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. Re1	664 (53%)	47%47%
6. d4 Open (5… Nxe4 6. d4)	521 (41%)	52%41%
6. Bxc6	45 (4%)	53%40%
6. c3	7 (1%)	43%57%
6. d3	6 (0%)	83%17%
6. Qe2 Morphy Defense, Tartakower Variation	6 (0%)	67%33%
6. Nxe5	4 (0%)	75%25%
6. Qe1	1 (0%)	100%

Master games

610 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 25%, Black 41%). The strongest:

GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2740) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2022 · 2022-12-29
GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Quang Liem Le (2728) 1-0 · Meltwater Tour Final 2022 · 2022-11-18
GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) – GM Grigoriy Oparin (2652) 1/2-1/2 · Levitov Christmas Final · 2020-12-24
GM Hans Moke Niemann (2729) – GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2655) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-18
GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2730) – GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2607) 1-0 · Titled Tue 6th Dec Early · 2022-12-06

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: Morphy Defense (4… Nf6 5. O-O) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tartakower Variation C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Qe2
Ruy Lopez: Open (5… Nxe4 6. d4) C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4
Ruy Lopez: Open, Knorre Variation C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Nc3
Ruy Lopez: Open, Skipworth Gambit C80 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5

More Ruy Lopez lines (all)

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.