C80

Ruy Lopez: Open 6…b5 7. Bb3

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Open after 7. Bb3

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Statistics from Lichess

212,727 games: White 49.7% / Draw 6.7% / Black 43.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	181,206181K
	13,09513K
	5,4385,438
	4,7214,721
	3,0523,052
	1,6541,654
	709709
	464464

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.31 White is slightly better

Best play: 7... d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Be3 Bc5 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Rd1 Bxe3 12. Qxe3

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 worse this line does for White: White scores 66% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	22K
1400–1799	50K
1800–2199	117K
2200 and up	67K
Masters, over the board	7,156

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Mamedyarov, S. ½–½, 2018
Kasparov, G. – Kramnik, V. ½–½, 2001
Nepomniachtchi, I. – Carlsen, M. ½–½, 2021
Caruana, F. – Mamedyarov, S. 1–0, 2018
Carlsen, M. – Mamedyarov, S. 1–0, 2021

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: Open (ECO C80, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Open, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 (7 moves).

In 212,727 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.7%, Black 43.6% and 6.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…d5, in 85% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense and Ruy Lopez: Open, Harksen Gambit. In all, 24 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to answer 7. Bb3

The most played answer, 7…d5, also scores best for Black: 49.4%, with Black winning 45.8% and White 46.9% of 181K games. Of the main answers, 7…exd4 scores lowest: 38.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 7…d5.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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

This line has lost ground since 2016: 0.0073% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.01% (its peak: 0.012% in 2018).

0.01%0.0073%0.012%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.01%	3,600
2017	0.011%	6,107
2018	0.012%	9,474
2019	0.01%	12,748
2020	0.0094%	27,551
2021	0.0078%	30,373
2022	0.0081%	30,319
2023	0.0077%	29,089
2024	0.0074%	26,480
2025	0.0073%	25,199
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0072%	7,887

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 (3)

All 24 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Open (C80)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-open-3