Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred, Boleslavsky Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4 8. Re1 f5 9. dxe5 d5 10. Nc3

The Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred, Boleslavsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C79, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4 8. Re1 f5 9. dxe5 d5 10. Nc3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 10… Bc5 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Rxe3 O-O 13. Nd4)

ECO

C79

Moves

19 plies

FEN

r1bqkb1r/2p3pp/p1p5/3pPp2/4n3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQR1K1 b kq - 1 10

PGN

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 Nxe4 8. Re1 f5 9. dxe5 d5 10. Nc3

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

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.