Caissa Codex
C90

Ruy Lopez: Closed 8. c3 O-O

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Closed after 8…O-O

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

783,961 games: White 48.9% / Draw 6.1% / Black 45.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
C92 515,766516K
Yates Variation 197,404197K
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Pilnik Variation 54,18354K
11,85212K
Lutikov Variation 2,3832,383
Suetin Variation 1,4951,495
216216
167167

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 25, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.25 The position is about equal

Best play: 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a4 h6 13. Ba2 exd4

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

The stronger the players, the better this line does for Black: Black scores 46% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 18K
1400–1799 159K
1800–2199 449K
2200 and up 220K
Masters, over the board 31K

Master games

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 27, 2026

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Closed (ECO C90, 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 d6 8. c3 O-O (8 moves).

In 783,961 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.9%, Black 45.0% and 6.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. h3, in 66% of those games.

It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are Ruy Lopez: Closed, Yates Variation and Ruy Lopez: Closed, Suetin Variation. In all, 30 named lines continue from it.

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How to answer 8…O-O

9. d3 (Ruy Lopez: Closed, Pilnik Variation) scores best for White: 54.0%, with White winning 51.2% and Black 43.3% of 54K games. The most played, 9. h3, scores 52.5% in 516K games, and 9. d4 scores lowest: 49.9%. Stockfish's first choice is 9. h3.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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: 0.023% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.044% (its peak: 0.054% in 2017).

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.044%15,848
20170.054%29,580
20180.053%41,347
20190.045%55,980
20200.039%114,840
20210.029%114,348
20220.027%101,108
20230.027%102,369
20240.024%87,040
20250.023%81,100
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.024%26,683

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 (4)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7…d6 8. c3 O-O, the position after Ruy Lopez: Closed also goes on to:

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

All 30 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Closed (C90)”. Lichess data as of 25 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-closed-4

https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-closed-4