Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Classical Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5
The Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C63, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5. 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 47 times by this move order. White won 43%, 6% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qe2 (72% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.60 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 8. Qe2 Nf6 9. Nxa7+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Nxd7)
- ECO
- C63
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/ppp3pp/2N5/1B4q1/4p3/8/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 46 | |
| All | 47 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qe2 | 34 (72%) | |
| 8. Nxa7+ | 7 (15%) | |
| 8. Nd4+ | 4 (9%) | |
| 8. f4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 8. Ne5+ | 1 (2%) |
Master games
155 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 20%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2743) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) 1/2-1/2 · TechM GCL 2025 · 2025-12-14
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2632) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2797) 1/2-1/2 · 39th ECC Open 2024 · 2024-10-26
- GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2577) – GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2661) 1/2-1/2 · 16th OIBM 2012 · 2012-11-02
- GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez (2619) – GM Sergei Azarov (2556) 1/2-1/2 · SPICE Cup Open 2017 · 2017-10-23
- GM Aleksander Mista (2575) – GM Sergei Azarov (2589) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE Extraliga 2015-16 · 2016-04-16
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Jiordani_Jovanovich (2838) – Kruciatos (2690) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- jimborever (2723) – Kruciatos (2755) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- KhatanbaatarGM (2718) – Kruciatos (2752) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Dyckhoff Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. 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.