Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense
The Cozio Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7, an old-fashioned and uncommon third move for Black in the Ruy Lopez. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
3,075,704 games: White 50.9% / Draw 4.7% / Black 44.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,431,4751.4M | ||
| 557,188557K | ||
| 314,615315K | ||
| 298,100298K | ||
| 228,164228K | ||
| 170,353170K | ||
| 19,30719K | ||
| 13,67214K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.47 White is slightly better
Best play: 4. Nc3 a6 5. Bc4 d6 6. d4 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4 Be6
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 47% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 2M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.5M | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 184K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2,378 |
Master games
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Nakamura, H.
- Nakamura, H. – Caruana, F.
- Caruana, F. – Nakamura, H.
- Gashimov, V. – Aronian, L.
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
Description
The Cozio Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7, an old-fashioned and uncommon third move for Black in the Ruy Lopez. Bent Larsen used it occasionally with success, yet it remains one of the least explored variations of the Ruy Lopez.
The idea
The knight goes to e7 so that Black avoids doubled c-pawns: if White takes the knight on c6, Black recaptures with the other knight, ...Nxc6.
The Cozio Deferred
The same idea can be played a move later, 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nge7, the Cozio Defense Deferred, and it is frequently reached by transposition from the Cozio itself. Levon Aronian has advocated it, and in recent years Fabiano Caruana, Dommaraju Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa have also tried 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nge7. The critical line runs 5.c3 Ng6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 d5 9.exd5 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxd5 11.O-O O-O, after which White keeps the bishop pair and Black has the better pawn structure.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 50.9% of the 3.1 million games and Black 44.4%. The gap is narrower at the top: 50.6% against 45.4% under 1400, and 46.7% against 46.1% from 2200 up. In 2,378 master games over the board White won 36.5%, Black 26.1%, and 37.4% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense
4. d4 scores best for White: 54.3%, with White winning 51.8% and Black 43.1% of 298K games. The most played, 4. O-O, scores 54.0% in 1.4M games, and 4. Bxc6 scores lowest: 47.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 4. Nc3.
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
The Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.1% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.19%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.19% | 67,456 |
| 2017 | 0.16% | 87,573 |
| 2018 | 0.14% | 108,016 |
| 2019 | 0.13% | 162,645 |
| 2020 | 0.13% | 366,508 |
| 2021 | 0.12% | 487,792 |
| 2022 | 0.12% | 439,720 |
| 2023 | 0.11% | 429,496 |
| 2024 | 0.11% | 393,310 |
| 2025 | 0.1% | 361,838 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.11% | 115,161 |
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 (1)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Ruy Lopez, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense (C60)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-cozio-defense