Chess Codex
Tree path 6 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Ruy Lopez › Morphy Defense › Modern Steinitz Defense
  1. Chess Codex
  2. King's Pawn Game C20
  3. King's Knight Opening C40
  4. Normal Variation C44
  5. Ruy Lopez C60
  6. Morphy Defense C70
  7. Modern Steinitz Defense C71 you are here
C71

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense

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Overview

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense is a named branch in the Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO C71.

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

It begins with 8 plies and takes 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 to reach the canonical position.

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

5 named variations grow from this line, including Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, and others.

Together the deeper variations number 11 across the full subtree.

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
C71
Group
Open Games (C)
Plies
8
Parent
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense
Direct variations
5
Total in subtree
11

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

1,082,036 games · White 49.3% / Draw 5.4% / Black 45.3%

MovesGamesW / D / B
O-O386,455
c3263,997
d4179,904
h3134,208
d339,247
Bxc6+29,267
Nc325,163
Bb39,043

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:54:15

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Variations (5)

Related variations at the same level

Sister lines that share the same parent Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense:

Show all 11 sub-variations (full subtree)

https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-morphy-defense-modern-steinitz-defense