Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
552,813 games: White 52.9% / Draw 5.3% / Black 41.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 258,117258K | ||
| 82,44582K | ||
| 73,54174K | ||
| 53,96454K | ||
| 52,33752K | ||
| 13,40713K | ||
| 12,89813K | ||
| 2,8282,828 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.41 White is slightly better
Best play: 6. c3 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. Bc2 O-O 9. h3 d5 10. d4 exd4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 45% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 46% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 66K | |
| 1400–1799 | 307K | |
| 1800–2199 | 319K | |
| 2200 and up | 39K | |
| Masters, over the board | 1,296 |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- So, W. – Caruana, F.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Caruana, F.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Abdusattorov, N.
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Artemiev, V.
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 27, 2026
Overview
Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred (ECO C79, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 (5 moves).
In 552,813 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.9%, Black 41.8% and 5.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 6. Re1, in 47% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred, Lipnitsky Variation. In all, 3 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred
6. c3 scores best for White: 57.4%, with White winning 55.0% and Black 40.1% of 82K games. The most played, 6. Re1, scores 55.9% in 258K games, and 6. d4 scores lowest: 53.3%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6. c3.
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: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred has lost ground since 2016: 0.018% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.029% (its peak: 0.033% in 2017).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.029% | 10,215 |
| 2017 | 0.033% | 18,295 |
| 2018 | 0.031% | 24,245 |
| 2019 | 0.028% | 34,605 |
| 2020 | 0.025% | 71,750 |
| 2021 | 0.02% | 78,848 |
| 2022 | 0.019% | 72,706 |
| 2023 | 0.02% | 77,031 |
| 2024 | 0.02% | 72,106 |
| 2025 | 0.018% | 64,179 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.018% | 19,351 |
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 (2)
Transpositions
All 3 named lines that continue from here
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred (C79)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-morphy-defense-steinitz-deferred