Caissa Codex
C74

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation after 5…f5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

38,802 games: White 46.1% / Draw 5.1% / Black 48.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
16,22416K
15,48515K
3,9153,915
1,2661,266
884884
514514
409409
4545

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.23 The position is about equal

Best play: 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. d4 e4 8. d5 exf3 9. Qxf3 Bxb1 10. dxc6 b5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation (ECO C74, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 (5 moves).

In 38,802 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.1%, Black 48.8% and 5.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 6. d3, in 42% of those games.

It continues into one named variation, Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

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

How to play against the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation

6. d4 scores best for White: 51.6%, with White winning 49.5% and Black 46.3% of 3,915 games. The most played answer, 6. d3, scores lowest: 47.2% in 16K games. Stockfish's first choice is 6. exf5.

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

Variations (1)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 5…f5, the position after Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Siesta Variation (C74)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-morphy-defense-modern-steinitz-defense-siesta-variation

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