Ruy Lopez: Retreat Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nb8
The Ruy Lopez: Retreat Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C60, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nb8. 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 69 times by this move order. White won 65%, 3% were drawn and Black won 32%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxe5 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.19 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bc4 d6 6. d4 exd4)
- ECO
- C60
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 4 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nb8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 57 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 69 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxe5 | 24 (35%) | |
| 4. O-O | 22 (32%) | |
| 4. d4 | 9 (13%) | |
| 4. d3 | 5 (7%) | |
| 4. c3 | 3 (4%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 3 (4%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 1 (1%) | |
| 4. Bxd7+ | 1 (1%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 0%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Yi Wei (2709) – IM Yuxiang Fang (2503) 1-0 · ch-CHN Blitz 2016 · 2016-08-26
- Kevin Butler (2042) – Paul Sean O`Neill (1784) 1-0 · ch-IRL 2016 · 2016-07-02
- WCM Selen Sop Kanli (2000) – Elvan Asan (1817) 0-1 · Turkish Bank Chess League 2012 · 2012-07-18
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Retreat Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- velsharun (2290) – NJA_B (2445) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- kudetisriaee18112020 (2131) – naomilifshits (2247) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 5s
- Alina27092011 (2263) – agkh (1690) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 1s
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: Pollock Defense 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.