1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening, begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. The bishop attacks the knight on c6, the piece that defends e5. There is no immediate threat: after 3...a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5, Black wins the pawn back with 5...Qd4, hitting the knight and e4. But the pressure on e5 lasts for the whole opening.
Black's main reply is 3...a6, the Morphy Defense, which asks the bishop to decide. After 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 we reach the Closed Ruy Lopez, one of the most analysed positions in chess.
Black's other big choice is 3...Nf6, the Berlin Defense, which often leads to an early queen trade and a very solid endgame. Between them, these two defences have decided many world championship matches.
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It gives White a small, lasting edge without taking big risks. The plans (c3 and d4, the knight tour to g3, slow kingside play) carry over to many other 1.e4 e5 openings.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3
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The Closed Ruy Lopez revolves around the e4-e5 tension. White wants d4 with c3 behind it. Black keeps e5 with ...d6, ...Re8 and sometimes ...exd4 at the right moment. If White ever plays d5, the centre locks and the play moves to the wings.
The Exchange Variation creates a different structure. After 4.Bxc6 dxc6 Black has the bishop pair but doubled c-pawns. White aims for d4 and an endgame: White's four kingside pawns against three can create a passed pawn, while Black's queenside majority cannot do the same because of the doubled pawn.
In the Berlin endgame the queens come off early. Black's king stays in the centre and the pawns are doubled, but the bishop pair and the lack of targets make the position very hard to break.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8
Black ignores the bishop and counter-attacks e4. After 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 the queens are off. Black has lost the right to castle but has the bishop pair and a very solid position. Vladimir Kramnik used it to take the world title from Garry Kasparov in 2000.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O
White gives the bishop for the knight to double Black's c-pawns, then castles and prepares d4. Black has the bishop pair and easy development. Bobby Fischer revived it in the 1960s with 5.O-O.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6
Black castles before ...d6 and then gives up the e5 pawn with 8...d5 for fast development and an attack on White's king. Frank Marshall first played it against José Raúl Capablanca in New York in 1918. Capablanca won that game, but the gambit is now so well analysed that many White players avoid it with 8.a4 or 8.h3.
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
Black takes the e4 pawn. White regains the material by opening the centre, and after 8.dxe5 Be6 Black has a centralised knight on e4 and free piece play, while White has a space advantage and targets on Black's queenside.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4 c5 9.Qd5 Be6 10.Qc6+ Bd7 11.Qd5 c4
This trap catches White. After 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4, the natural recapture 8.Qxd4? walks into 8...c5, and after 9.Qd5 Be6 10.Qc6+ Bd7 11.Qd5 c4 the bishop on b3 is trapped behind Black's pawns. Its only moves are to a4, where the b5 pawn takes it, or to c4, where it can only be given up for two pawns.
The opening is named after Ruy López de Segura, a Spanish priest who analysed it in a book published in 1561. It became the main battleground of 1.e4 e5 in the 19th century and has stayed there ever since.
Nearly every world champion has played it from both sides. Famous moments include Marshall's gambit against Capablanca in 1918, Fischer's revival of the Exchange Variation, the long Karpov–Kasparov debates in the Closed Ruy Lopez, and Kramnik's Berlin Defense against Kasparov in their 2000 world championship match.
Copy the position at the end of the main line, open the chess move calculator, paste it into the “Paste FEN” box under the board and press the FEN button next to it. Stockfish 19 then suggests a move for the side to play, at the strength set on the calculator's slider, and you can play on from there to test your own ideas.
r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2N1P/PP1P1PP1/RNBQR1K1 b - - 0 91. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3For a move-by-move review of a whole game you played with this opening, use the chess analysis board.
Knowing the moves is not the same as playing them under pressure. Play chess against the computer with the white pieces and steer the game toward the Ruy Lopez from move one, then sharpen the tactics that come out of it with chess puzzles.
Go deeper: Chess endgame strategy · Castling rules and timing
It is named after Ruy López de Segura, a 16th-century Spanish priest who wrote about it in 1561. Both names refer to the same moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5.
It is playable at any level, but its value comes from long-term plans rather than quick tactics, so many coaches teach the Italian Game first. Once you are comfortable with 1.e4 e5 structures, the Ruy Lopez is the natural next step.
Not yet. After 3...a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5, Black regains the pawn with 5...Qd4. Once White has castled and played Re1, Bxc6 followed by Nxe5 does become a threat, which is why Black plays ...b5 in the main line.
The Morphy Defense (3...a6) is the most popular and most flexible. The Berlin Defense (3...Nf6) is the most solid and leads to early endgames. The Marshall Attack is the sharpest choice for players who like to gambit a pawn.
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