Tree path 8 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Ruy Lopez › Morphy Defense › Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation › Normal Variation › Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Alapin Gambit
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Knight Opening C40
- Normal Variation C44
- Ruy Lopez C60
- Morphy Defense C70
- Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation C68
- Normal Variation C69
- Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Alapin Gambit C69 you are here
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Alapin Gambit
Overview
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Alapin Gambit belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO C69, Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
Play reaches this position via 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5, after 12 plies of opening development.
The line refines Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Normal Variation, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.
Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.
- ECO code
- C69
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 12
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
207,159 games · White 46.0% / Draw 6.0% / Black 48.0%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| d3 | 156,513 | |
| hxg4 | 14,943 | |
| d4 | 11,805 | |
| c3 | 8,025 | |
| Re1 | 7,102 | |
| Nc3 | 6,321 | |
| Qe2 | 924 | |
| b3 | 430 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:41:09
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Submissions are reviewed before publishing.