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 › Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Knight Opening C40
- Normal Variation C44
- Ruy Lopez C60
- Morphy Defense C70
- Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense C78
- Ruy Lopez: Closed C84
- Ruy Lopez: Closed C88
- Ruy Lopez: Closed C90
- Ruy Lopez: Closed C92
- Chigorin Defense C97
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense C96
- Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense C96 you are here
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense
Overview
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C96.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
The line arises from 22 plies — specifically the moves 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 c6 11. d4 Qc7.
It is a variation of Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C96
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 22
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
891 games · White 53.6% / Draw 4.5% / Black 41.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Nbd2 | 575 | |
| Bg5 | 114 | |
| a4 | 58 | |
| b4 | 40 | |
| Be3 | 34 | |
| dxe5 | 29 | |
| b3 | 24 | |
| Bd2 | 4 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 03:29:14
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