Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Na5
The Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Na5. 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 169 times by this move order. White won 62%, 5% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxe5 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.20 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4. c3 a6 5. Ba4 b5 6. Bc2 d6)
- ECO
- C60
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/nB2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 4 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Na5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 161 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| All | 169 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxe5 | 74 (44%) | |
| 4. O-O | 35 (21%) | |
| 4. b4 | 22 (13%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 11 (7%) | |
| 4. d4 | 7 (4%) | |
| 4. d3 | 6 (4%) | |
| 4. c3 | 6 (4%) | |
| 4. b3 | 4 (2%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 33%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- WFM Georgia Grapsa (2065) – CM Elnur Aliyev (2079) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 25th Feb Late · 2025-02-25
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vjgv72 (1778) – Moon202 (1740) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- mozanella1979 (1762) – MajoEspiMin (1690) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
- horrat (1698) – panthabunny (1685) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- 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
- Ruy Lopez: Retreat 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.