Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense, Nimzowitsch Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bxc6
The Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense, Nimzowitsch Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C62, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. 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 11 times by this move order. White won 64%, 9% were drawn and Black won 27%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bxc6 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.84 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 6… Bxc6 7. Qe2 exd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Be3)
- ECO
- C62
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r2qkb1r/pppb1ppp/2Bp1n2/4p3/3PP3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bxc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bxc6 | 10 (91%) | |
| 6… bxc6 | 1 (9%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 80%, draw 0%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Rublevsky (2653) – IM Ruslan Musalov (2348) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Premier 2020 · 2020-11-19
- GM Vugar Rasulov (2515) – GM Sarhan Guliev (2467) 0-1 · Turkish Bank Chess League 2012 · 2012-07-16
- WGM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette (2405) – WIM Nina Hoiberg (2224) 1-0 · Politiken Cup 2014 · 2014-07-23
- CM Felix Rose (2091) – CM Krish Bhandari (1980) 1-0 · Titled Tue 24th Oct Late · 2023-10-24
- IM Al Khatib Ahmad (2244) – Robert Bridet (1497) 1-0 · 44th Olympiad 2022 · 2022-08-02
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense, Nimzowitsch Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ChrisG5959 (1874) – Kimato (1907) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- bajulireng21 (1771) – downbadhuh (1774) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- fouadkh (1704) – ProfessorFinesse (1755) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 1200 + 10s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense (3… d6 4. d4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4
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.