C82

Ruy Lopez: Open, Italian Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

38,566 games: White 44.1% / Draw 7.0% / Black 48.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation	28,31328K
	3,2393,239
	1,8071,807
	1,2741,274
Ruy Lopez: Open, Motzko Attack	1,1561,156
	1,1151,115
	701701
	510510

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

Engine evaluation

+0.15 The position is about equal

Best play: 10. Qd3 O-O 11. Be3 f6 12. exf6 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Qxf6 14. Re1 Rad8

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

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Open, Italian Variation (ECO C82, 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 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 (9 moves).

In 38,566 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.1%, Black 48.9% and 7.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 10. Nbd2, in 73% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation and Ruy Lopez: Open, Motzko Attack. In all, 4 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the Ruy Lopez: Open, Italian Variation

10. Qe2 scores best for White: 53.5%, with White winning 49.6% and Black 42.6% of 3,239 games. The most played answer, 10. Nbd2, scores lowest: 46.4% in 28K games. Stockfish's first choice is 10. Qd3.

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 (2)

All 4 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Open, Italian Variation (C82)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-open-italian-variation