Ruy Lopez: Closed 6…b5 7. Bb3
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Statistics from Lichess
2,393,144 games: White 47.2% / Draw 5.8% / Black 46.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,487,4991.5M | ||
| 868,564869K | ||
| Trajkovic Counterattack | 18,38218K | |
| 7,2587,258 | ||
| 6,0446,044 | ||
| 2,5622,562 | ||
| 916916 | ||
| 734734 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.31 White is slightly better
Best play: 7... O-O 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 d5 10. d4 dxe4 11. Nxe5 c5 12. Be3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 51% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 35K | |
| 1400–1799 | 433K | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 552K | |
| Masters, over the board | 51K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
- Carlsen, M. – Ding Liren
- Anand, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Kasparov, G. – Kramnik, V.
- Caruana, F. – Ding Liren
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
Ruy Lopez: Closed (ECO C88, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 (7 moves).
In 2,393,144 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.2%, Black 46.9% and 5.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…O-O, in 62% of those games.
It branches into 7 named variations; the most played are Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rosen Attack and Ruy Lopez: Closed, Trajkovic Counterattack. In all, 48 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to answer 7. Bb3
The most played answer, 7…O-O, also scores best for Black: 50.6%, with Black winning 47.8% and White 46.6% of 1.5M games. Of the main answers, 7…d6 scores lowest: 48.8%. Stockfish's first choice is also 7…O-O.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
This line has lost ground since 2016: 0.072% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.13% (its peak: 0.16% in 2017).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.13% | 47,559 |
| 2017 | 0.16% | 87,183 |
| 2018 | 0.16% | 122,542 |
| 2019 | 0.13% | 163,791 |
| 2020 | 0.11% | 333,425 |
| 2021 | 0.088% | 345,908 |
| 2022 | 0.087% | 328,407 |
| 2023 | 0.085% | 321,485 |
| 2024 | 0.074% | 266,634 |
| 2025 | 0.072% | 248,838 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.075% | 82,596 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (7)
- C88 Closed 7…O-O
- C90 Closed 7…d6 8. c3 O-O
- C88 Alekhine Gambit 7…d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nf1 Bg4 13. Ne3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3
- C88 Balla Variation 7…d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. a4
- C88 Leonhardt Variation 7…d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. h3 Nc6 12. d5 Nb8 13. Nbd2 g5
- C88 Rosen Attack 7…d6 8. d4
- C88 Trajkovic Counterattack 7…Bb7
All 48 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C88 Closed 7 moves
- C90 Closed 8 moves
- C88 Alekhine Gambit 14 moves
- C88 Balla Variation 11 moves
- C88 Leonhardt Variation 13 moves
- C88 Rosen Attack 8 moves
- C88 Trajkovic Counterattack 7 moves
- C92 Closed 9 moves
- C88 Anti-Marshall 8 moves
- C90 Lutikov Variation 9 moves
- C90 Pilnik Variation 9 moves
- C90 Suetin Variation 9 moves
- C91 Yates Variation 9 moves
- C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack 8 moves
- C88 Ruy Lopez: Noah's Ark Trap 10 moves
- C91 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Bogoljubow Variation 9 moves
- C94 Breyer Defense 9 moves
- C97 Chigorin Defense 9 moves
- C92 Flohr System 9 moves
- C92 Karpov Variation 9 moves
- C92 Kholmov Variation 9 moves
- C93 Smyslov Defense 9 moves
- C92 Zaitsev System 9 moves
- C89 Modern Variation 11 moves
- C89 Original Marshall Attack 11 moves
- C89 Steiner Variation 9 moves
- C95 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer 10 moves
- C94 Quiet Variation 10 moves
- C96 Chigorin Defense 10 moves
- C92 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Smyslov-Breyer-Zaitsev Hybrid 12 moves
- C91 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Yates Variation, Short Attack 10 moves
- C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Main Line 12 moves
- C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Re3 Variation 14 moves
- C95 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid 10 moves
- C96 Chigorin Defense 10 moves
- C96 Gajewski Gambit 10 moves
- C96 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense 11 moves
- C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Main Line 14 moves
- C96 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Borisenko Variation 11 moves
- C95 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense 12 moves
- C95 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense 11 moves
- C97 Chigorin Defense 11 moves
- C96 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Keres Defense 11 moves
- C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Main Line, Spassky Variation 18 moves
- C98 Chigorin Defense 12 moves
- C99 Panov System 13 moves
- C97 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin, Yugoslav System 14 moves
- C98 Chigorin Defense 13 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Closed (C88)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-closed-2