Tree path 13 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Ruy Lopez › Morphy Defense › Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense › Ruy Lopez: Closed › Ruy Lopez: Closed › Ruy Lopez: Closed › Ruy Lopez: Closed › Chigorin Defense › Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense › Gajewski Gambit

C96

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, Gajewski Gambit

Open in Lichess

Play from here → Click pieces to play, or use ← / → arrows.

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, Gajewski Gambit is a sacrificial opening line filed under ECO C96 in the Open Games group. The defining idea is the early concession of material to seize the initiative and unbalance the position.

The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.

It begins with 20 plies and takes 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 d5 to reach the canonical position.

In the opening tree, this line branches off from Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, part of the broader King's Pawn Game system.

Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.

ECO code: C96
Group: Open Games (C)
Plies: 20
Parent: Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

3,266 games · White 41.9% / Draw 7.0% / Black 51.0%

Moves	Games	W / D / B
exd5	2,061
d4	609
Nxe5	419
d3	147
b4	15
a4	10
Qe2	3
a3	1

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 03:26:37

Write a description

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Overview

Statistics from Lichess

Related variations at the same level