Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Dyckhoff Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3
The Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Dyckhoff Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C63, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 710 times by this move order. White won 51%, 3% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4… fxe4 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Qe2 d5 7. Nxf6+)
- ECO
- C63
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp2pp/2n5/1B2pp2/4P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 130 | |
| 1500-1999 | 273 | |
| 2000+ | 307 | |
| All | 710 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… fxe4 | 406 (57%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 190 (27%) | |
| 4… d6 | 34 (5%) | |
| 4… Bc5 | 24 (3%) | |
| 4… Nd4 | 18 (3%) | |
| 4… f4 | 12 (2%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 11 (2%) | |
| 4… a6 | 11 (2%) |
Master games
258 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 12%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Karthik Venkataraman (2605) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2761) 0-1 · TCh-FRA Top 16 GpA 2024 · 2024-06-05
- GM Gata Kamsky (2662) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2659) 1/2-1/2 · Speed Chess GP4 2021 · 2021-10-09
- GM Gata Kamsky (2655) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2634) 1-0 · Chess.com RCC Wk22 Swiss · 2022-07-23
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) – GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2590) 0-1 · Solidarity NOR-UKR Match · 2022-04-23
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2559) – GM Alexei Shirov (2661) 1-0 · Titled Tue 30th Apr Late · 2024-04-30
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Dyckhoff 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 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Kostić Defense C63 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7
- Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Tartakower Variation C63 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6
- Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Classical Variation C63 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5
- Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Möhring Variation C63 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qd5
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.