Chess openings: Ruy Lopez, Classical (C64)

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Ruy Lopez, Classical (C64)
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Bc5

Number of games in database: 2694
Years covered: 1837 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 41.9%
   Black wins 25.9%
   Draws 32.1%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening | Search for sacrifices in this opening.

PRACTITIONERS

With the White Pieces

With the Black Pieces

Emanuel Lasker		14 games
Aleksandar Matanovic		12 games
Evgeni Vasiukov		11 games

Michele Godena		33 games
Jonny Hector		30 games
Darcy Lima		28 games

NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]

White Wins

Black Wins

Ljubojevic vs J Durao, 1974

Lasker vs Steinitz, 1896

Vasiukov vs S Giterman, 1960

Gufeld vs Kavalek, 1962

C Mayet vs Anderssen, 1851

R Nezhmetdinov vs Myagmarsuren, 1965

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page 1 of 108; games 1-25 of 2,694

Game		Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. von der Lasa vs A von der Goltz		1-0	38	1837	Berlin Casual Games	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
2. W Hanstein vs von der Lasa		½-½	49	1841	von der Lasa - Hanstein Casual Series	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
3. W Hanstein vs von der Lasa		½-½	29	1841	von der Lasa - Hanstein Casual Series	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
4. C Mayet vs von der Lasa		½-½	52	1841	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
5. W Hanstein vs von der Lasa		0-1	50	1841	von der Lasa - Hanstein Casual Series	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
6. W Hanstein vs von der Lasa		1-0	32	1841	von der Lasa - Hanstein Casual Series	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
7. W Hanstein vs von der Lasa		½-½	60	1841	von der Lasa - Hanstein Casual Series	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
8. W Hanstein vs von der Lasa		½-½	68	1841	von der Lasa - Hanstein Casual Series	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
9. Saint-Amant vs Cochrane		0-1	23	1842	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
10. E Rousseau vs C Stanley		½-½	60	1845	Rousseau - Stanley	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
11. Horwitz vs Kieseritzky		0-1	55	1846	Kieseritsky - Horwitz	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
12. E Dudley vs B Raphael		1-0	25	1847	Blue Lick tournament	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
13. E Williams vs J Brown		1-0	39	1848	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
14. E Williams vs J Brown		0-1	17	1848	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
15. Bird vs A Simons		1-0	50	1850	Bird - Simons	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
16. Bird vs C F Smith		1-0	21	1850	London	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
17. Moheschunder vs Cochrane		1-0	21	1850	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
18. C Mayet vs Anderssen		0-1	12	1851	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
19. Moheschunder vs Cochrane		0-1	54	1851	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
20. Moheschunder vs Cochrane		0-1	27	1851	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
21. E Williams vs Lowenthal		½-½	68	1851	Lowenthal - Williams	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
22. F Greenaway vs Anderssen		1-0	29	1851	Casual game	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
23. Szen vs Falkbeer		1-0	38	1852	Vienna m	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
24. E Williams vs Harrwitz		0-1	46	1852	Harrwitz - Williams	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
25. E Williams vs Harrwitz		0-1	94	1852	Harrwitz - Williams 1852/53	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical


page 1 of 108; games 1-25 of 2,694

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing>
Feb-17-04		PaulKeres: How not to play this line: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 <6. Nxe5?> Qd4

Feb-17-04		square dance: <paulkeres> yeah i agree it would be tough to play Bc5 two moves in a row!

Feb-18-04		PaulKeres: lol :-),oops! I mean 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 Qd4

Oct-26-04		morphy234: this is Morphy's defense!

Oct-26-04		Minor Piece Activity: No, this is the classical. Morphy's defense is a6.

Oct-27-04		morphy234: I'm pretty sure Bc5 is Morphy's defense. a6 seems so common...

Oct-27-04		BiLL RobeRTiE: And yet you are still wrong. =]

Oct-27-04		Dudley: He's right morphy. a6 was Morphy's most lasting contribution to chess opening theory, other than his demonstration of the way open chess games should be played.

Oct-27-04		square dance: ive read that morphy did not invent this move or even use it any more than his contemperary players, but it was called "morphy's defense" because of his popularity at the time.

Mar-18-05		InspiredByMorphy: Morphy did play this once Morphy vs S Boden, 1858

Mar-18-05		InspiredByMorphy: Does anybody have any thoughts on blacks fourth move in the following variation? 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 f5 ? Opening Explorer

Mar-18-05		mellow: 5.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6(a) 7.Nxe5 Bd6 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2! Qh4 10.Nd2 Bf5 (a)6...exf3?! 7.Bxf3 exd4 8.0-0! Be7 9.Qxd4 Nf6 10.c4 0-0 11.Nc3

Mar-18-05		InspiredByMorphy: <mellow> Thanks for the input. Im concluding that from the explanation points you would rather be playing the white side of the board. <.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6(a) 7.Nxe5 Bd6 Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2! Qh4 10.Nd2 Bf5> A Davies vs Speelman, 1988 There was only one game in the database to draw off this analysis. <6. ...exf3?! 7.Bxf3 exd4 8.0-0!> E Torre vs S Tatai, 1976

Aug-05-05		ArturoRivera: why does nobody plays d5 in this position: 1.-e4 e5 2.-Nf3 Nc6 4.-Bb5 Bc5 4.-c3 d5!?, why not, some lines, opening experts?

Aug-05-05		Swapmeet: <ArturoRivera> I'm no expert, but it looks to me like 5.Nxe5 just wins a pawn, while considerably increasing the pressure on c6. 5...Qg5 seems like an intersting try, but after 6.0-0 I think white is better. Of course 5...dxe4 would just lose immediately to 6.Nxc6.

Aug-05-05		sneaky pete: 3... Bc5 4.c3 d5 was pioneered by Jerzy Konikowski and has been played in numerous correspondence games since around 1970. Schiller and Watson give one refutation (starting 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.Qa4 ..) in their 1995 "Big book of busts" and another (starting 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.0-0 ..) in a more recent webpublication ("The open games as white"). I haven't checked the first bust, but the second is no good: 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.0-0 Qxe5 7.d4 Qe6 8.dxc5 dxe4 9.Re1 Bd7 10.Bg5 .. "Black cannot equalize now. Black's king has great difficulty escaping from the center", but only if black does not play 10... Nge7 11.Nd2 f5 with ... 0-0-0 soon to follow.

Aug-09-05		ArturoRivera: Inspired by Morphy, in your line <.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6(a) 7.Nxe5 Bd6 Qh5+ g6, doesnt white wins a pawn by Nxg6 and black cant take it due tp the rook hanging on h8, and if then Nf6 chasing the queen, white still has a retreat square for the queen in the black's queen diagonal, then, why is it not played?

Dec-14-05		paladin at large: I see that Spassky had good results with the classical defense - is it still considered a viable alternative to the Morphy Defense in the Ruy Lopez at high level play? Thanks in advance.

Dec-29-05		jperr75108: seems somewhat illogical to play into Whites idea of c3, and d4. With white I am usually happy to see this stuff.

Aug-20-06		WTHarvey: Here are some puzzles from C64 miniatures: http://www.wtharvey.com/c64.html

Sep-07-06		TheKid: How come the Classical has gone out of style? Even if the grandmasters have analysed it to death, it still must be playable at least under 2200.

Sep-07-06		NateDawg: <TheKid> I once read an interesting theory in "Chess Life" magazine as to why people play certain openings. Grandmasters like to refute openings that "common" people (under 2200 or so) play, or at least find a way to get an advantage. Chess books and magazines cover the openings that Grandmasters play, and amateurs use openings they read about in books and magazines. Therefore, if a popular opening is considered by grandmasters to be sub-optimal, gradually amateurs will stop playing it also. The example that "Chess Life" gives is the Marshall Variation of the French and Sicilian Defenses, which many people have never even heard of. It goes 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. ♘c3 c5 or 1. e4 c5 2. ♘f3 e6 3. d4 d5. The Sicilian variation was played 33 times in this database, the French variation, 25. This opening apparently used to be quite popular, but, as the Grandmasters ceased to like it for its dullness and simplification, it all but disappeared from the chess world. The reason that grandmasters do not especially like the Classical Ruy Lopez for Black is (I think) for two main reasons: one, it has been discovered that it is best to play ...a6 and ...♘f6 first, and two, the bishop at c5 is exposed and subject to counterattack by ♘a4 or ♙c3 followed by ♙d4. A more common variation with ...♗c5 nowadays is the Neo-Arkhangelsk, the main line of which goes 1. e4 e5 ♘f3 ♘c6 3. ♗b5 a6 4. ♗a4 ♘f6 5. 0-0 b5 6. ♗b3 ♗c5. Black will continue with ...♗b7, while White will usually put a pawn at d4, supported by one at c3.

Sep-18-06		TheKid: Interesting point. The lure of fashion snares everyone it seems.

Apr-24-08		whiteshark: Opening of the day: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... As for the line <4...f5 5.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6! dxc6 7.Nxe5 Bd6 Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2! Qh4 10.Nd2> A Davies vs Speelman, 1988 I think you have to look for good other 4th moves seriously.

Aug-01-08		WarmasterKron: Other 4th moves? How about 4...Qf6!?: NN (1374) - Kron (1450) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Qf6 5. O-O Nge7 6. d3 h6 7. Re1 d6 8. Bc4 O-O 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. b3 g5 12. Bb2 g4 13. b4 Bb6 14. b5 Nd8 15. Nc4 gxf3 16. Qxf3 Bxf2+ 17. Kxf2 Qh4+ 18. g3 Rxf3+ 19. Kxf3 Qf6+ 20. Kg2 d5 21. Ref1 Qg5 22. h4 Qh5 23. exd5 exd5 0-1 IM Andrew Martin called it the "If it's good enough for Capa" variation, in reference to R Lopez Martinez vs Capablanca, 1911

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