Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense
Chess opening · ECO C70 · 6 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Ruy Lopez with 3… a6.
How often it is played
The Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense and its variations appeared in 0.44% of games — 13,143 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 102 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 5.4% were drawn and Black won 44%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.41 — a small edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 | 0.35% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 | 0.34% |
| Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 | 0.20% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 | 0.15% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Caro Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 | 0.06% |
| Ruy Lopez: Closed | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 | 0.05% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 | 0.03% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 | 0.03% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3 | 0.02% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Classical Defense Deferred | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5 | 0.01% |
| Ruy Lopez: Open | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 | 0.01% |
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