Tree path 9 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Ruy Lopez › Morphy Defense › Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense › Ruy Lopez: Closed › Ruy Lopez: Closed › Balla Variation
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Balla Variation
Overview
Ruy Lopez: Closed, Balla Variation is a named branch in the Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO C88.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It begins with 21 plies and takes 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. a4 to reach the canonical position.
In the opening tree, this line branches off from Ruy Lopez: Closed, part of the broader King's Pawn Game system.
Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.
- ECO code
- C88
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 21
- Parent
- Ruy Lopez: Closed
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. A more detailed, human-written description is on the way — and you can speed it up by suggesting one yourself.
Statistics from Lichess
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Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached
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