← Openings

Ruy Lopez C60

C — Open games & French · Family: Ruy Lopez

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

🎓 Train this family

The Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) — also called the Spanish Game — is the classical fight for the e5-pawn and arguably the most important opening in chess. Named after the 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, it has been the main battleground of opening theory for over a century: every world champion has played both sides of it.

After the usual 3...a6 4.Ba4 the tension on e5 defines the play: the Closed variations (Chigorin, Breyer, Zaitsev) lead to slow maneuvering where White probes the kingside, while the Berlin Defense (3...Nf6) — famous from Kramnik's 2000 match win over Kasparov — trades into an endgame where Black's active pieces compensate for the doubled c-pawns. White's long-term dream is the "Spanish torture": small elastic advantages squeezed over many moves.

Play through the moves on the board above, explore the variations tree below — click any move of any branch — then test yourself against the engine from the position you picked.

• Position after 5 half-moves — Black to move.
• Material is balanced.
• Family “Ruy Lopez” contains 235 recorded variation(s) here.

Variations tree of the Ruy Lopez family

Click any move to jump to that position; switch branches at any point with the alternative moves. Test your knowledge plays the shown position against the engine.

Variations of this family

Related puzzles

Lichess tactics played in this opening — solve them right on the board:

Related openings

Nearby ECO codes in the C — Open games & French volume — compare the move orders:

• King's Pawn Game (C20)
• French Defense (C00)