Caissa Codex
C82

Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation after 10. Nbd2

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.

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Statistics from Lichess

30,724 games: White 42.8% / Draw 6.9% / Black 50.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
24,70525K
2,4602,460
1,9251,925
560560
317317
230230
153153
9090

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 26, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.11 The position is about equal

Best play: 10... O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 12. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 f6 14. Kg1 fxe5 15. Nf1

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

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation (ECO C82, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Open, Italian Variation, 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 10. Nbd2 (10 moves).

In 30,724 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 42.8%, Black 50.2% and 6.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 10…O-O, in 80% of those games.

It continues into one named variation, Ruy Lopez: Open, Dilworth Variation.

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How to play against the Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation

The most played answer, 10…O-O, also scores best for Black: 56.9%, with Black winning 53.3% and White 39.4% of 25K games. Of the main answers, 10…Nxd2 scores lowest: 38.9%. Stockfish's first choice is also 10…O-O.

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

Variations (1)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 10. Nbd2, the position after Ruy Lopez: Open, Italian Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Open, St. Petersburg Variation (C82)”. Lichess data as of 26 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-open-st-petersburg-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-open-st-petersburg-variation