C96

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense 9…Na5 10. Bc2

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense after 10. Bc2

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Statistics from Lichess

370,399 games: White 49.7% / Draw 5.9% / Black 44.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	349,844350K
	8,4378,437
Gajewski Gambit	3,2583,258
	2,9812,981
	1,5681,568
	1,2671,267
	1,0901,090
	609609

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.39 White is slightly better

Best play: 10... c5 11. d4 cxd4 12. cxd4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Bd7 14. Nc3 Re8 15. b3

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

By rating

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	1,984
1400–1799	49K
1800–2199	233K
2200 and up	98K
Masters, over the board	9,881

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, Chigorin Defense (ECO C96, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, 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 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 (10 moves).

In 370,399 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.7%, Black 44.4% and 5.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 10…c5, in 94% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, Gajewski Gambit and Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense. In all, 10 named lines continue from it.

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Description

Popularity by year

This line is played less than half as often as in 2016: 0.011% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.023% (its peak: 0.027% in 2017).

0.023%0.011%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.023%	8,151
2017	0.027%	14,994
2018	0.026%	20,073
2019	0.022%	27,781
2020	0.019%	56,304
2021	0.013%	52,565
2022	0.012%	46,717
2023	0.013%	47,415
2024	0.011%	40,122
2025	0.011%	37,561
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.011%	11,858

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 (3)

All 10 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense (C96)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-closed-chigorin-defense-2