Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Exchange Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6
The Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C63, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,617 times by this move order. White won 45%, 4% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 4… dxc6 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 4… dxc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. exf5 e4 7. Ng5)
- ECO
- C63
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp2pp/2B5/4pp2/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 532 | |
| 1500-1999 | 864 | |
| 2000+ | 221 | |
| All | 1,617 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… dxc6 | 1,253 (77%) | |
| 4… bxc6 | 336 (21%) | |
| 4… fxe4 | 22 (1%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 6 (0%) |
Master games
153 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 20%, Black 49%). The strongest:
- GM Gilberto Milos (2583) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) 1/2-1/2 · 13th Uva Rapid Open · 2014-03-08
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2762) – GM Tuan Minh Le (2598) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-10-13
- GM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2606) – GM Thomas Beerdsen (2511) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Sep Late · 2023-09-26
- GM Andrey Orlov (2481) – IM Mikhail Zaitsev (2508) 0-1 · 27th Schwert von Luelsdorf 2016 · 2016-09-04
- IM Sebastian Dario Iermito (2501) – IM Lucas Liascovich (2472) 1/2-1/2 · Grafica Yael GM 2015 · 2017-08-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM markb0716 (2639) – FM ArdianJashari (2457) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- StrangerAM (2471) – MrTroutstanding (2480) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- StrangerAM (2482) – alejandromagno92 (2442) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5
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.