24K games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 54.6% expected score for White (we're 90% confident it's between 54.1% and 55.2%), based on 24K Lichess games.
Improves with rating: 49% → 51%
Best in Bullet (53%), worst in Classical (48%)
Click any cell to filter. Green = above 50%, Red = below 50%.
| Rating | UB | Bulle | Blitz | Rapid | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | — | — | |||
| 1000-1199 | — | — | |||
| 1200-1399 | — | ||||
| 1400-1599 | — | ||||
| 1600-1799 | — | ||||
| 1800-1999 | — | ||||
| 2000-2199 | — | ||||
| 2200-2499 | — | ||||
| 2500+ | — |
Expected score matrix by rating bracket and time control
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 51.2% (90% CI: 50.7%-51.8%) win rate for white, based on 24K rated games from Lichess.
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange performs best at 2200-2499 Elo with a 52.4% win rate for white (4.9K games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Bullet (53.1%) outperforms Classical (47.5%) by 5.6%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a sharpness score of 93.3 (decisive), meaning 93.3% of games end decisively. Average game length is 37 moves.
At 1000-1199 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 54.2% (90% CI: 49.6%-58.8%) win rate for white, based on 315 Lichess games. Average game length is 27 moves with a 2.1% draw rate.
At 1200-1399 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 48.6% (90% CI: 45.7%-51.6%) win rate for white, based on 783 Lichess games. Average game length is 28 moves with a 3.4% draw rate.
At 1400-1599 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 51.5% (90% CI: 49.6%-53.4%) win rate for white, based on 1.9K Lichess games. Average game length is 30 moves with a 4.1% draw rate.
At 1600-1799 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 50.9% (90% CI: 49.6%-52.3%) win rate for white, based on 3.6K Lichess games. Average game length is 32 moves with a 4.9% draw rate.
At 1800-1999 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 50.8% (90% CI: 49.6%-51.9%) win rate for white, based on 5.4K Lichess games. Average game length is 35 moves with a 5.4% draw rate.
At 2000-2199 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 51.0% (90% CI: 49.9%-52.2%) win rate for white, based on 5.1K Lichess games. Average game length is 39 moves with a 7.2% draw rate.
At 2200-2499 Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 52.4% (90% CI: 51.2%-53.6%) win rate for white, based on 4.9K Lichess games. Average game length is 41 moves with a 8.3% draw rate.
At 2500+ Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 50.9% (90% CI: 48.9%-52.9%) win rate for white, based on 1.7K Lichess games. Average game length is 48 moves with a 14.8% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 53.1% (90% CI: 51.9%-54.4%) win rate for white (4.1K Lichess games). Draw rate is 4.9%.
In Blitz games, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 51.8% (90% CI: 51.1%-52.5%) win rate for white (15K Lichess games). Draw rate is 6.9%.
In Rapid games, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 47.5% (90% CI: 46.2%-48.8%) win rate for white (4.0K Lichess games). Draw rate is 7.5%.
In Classical games, the Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange has a 47.5% (90% CI: 43.1%-51.9%) win rate for white (345 Lichess games). Draw rate is 11.1%.
The Ruy Lopez: Closed, Delayed Exchange is statistically favors white with a 51.2% (90% CI: 50.7%-51.8%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 2200-2499 Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.