Chess lessons › Chess openings
The Ruy Lopez
The bishop pressures the knight that guards e5. Black can answer with the Morphy or the Berlin Defence.
The idea
White’s bishop attacks the knight that guards the pawn on e5.
- The bishop attacks the knight on c6.
- That knight is the only guard of the pawn on e5.
- Black can answer with a6, the Morphy, or Nf6, the Berlin.
In a game: Taking on c6 does not simply win the pawn on e5: Black can win it back.
How the lesson begins
The Ruy Lopez starts 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. The bishop does not attack a pawn. It attacks the knight that defends the pawn on e5, so White puts pressure on e5 from a distance.
At club level 3.Bc4 is more popular. Among players rated 1200 to 1599 on Lichess, White chose 3.Bb5 in 19% of the games that reached move 3 and 3.Bc4 in 43%. Among players rated 2000 and over the figures are 36% and 36%.
- 3... d6 Black defends e5 with a pawn, but now the knight is **pinned**: it cannot move, because the bishop would then attack the king.
Find the move
Black to move. White’s bishop attacks your knight. Ask the bishop what it wants: attack it with a pawn.
A hint
The pawn on a7 can attack the bishop in one step.
Show the answer
3... a6
a6 is the Morphy Defence. The pawn attacks the bishop, so White has to decide whether to take the knight or retreat. Among players rated 1200 to 1599 on Lichess, 18% of Black’s replies to 3.Bb5 were 3...a6, and among players rated 2000 and over 47%.
In numbers
How often it is played
| Rating | Value |
|---|---|
| Under 800 | Too few games |
| 800 to 1199 | 18 |
| 1200 to 1599 | 21 |
| 1600 to 1999 | 15 |
| 2000 and up | 14 |
How the games ended
White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%, over 32,008 games that start this way, in a sample of rated Lichess games from 2026.