253 games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense has a 50.8% expected score for White (we're 90% confident it's between 47.7% and 53.9%), based on 253 Lichess games.
Declines with rating: 20% → 5%
Best in Rapid (33%), worst in Bullet (6%)
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: Open, Schlechter Defense has a 10.8% (90% CI: 7.8%-14.2%) win rate for white, based on 253 rated games from Lichess.
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense performs best at 2500+ Elo with a 4.8% win rate for white (215 games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Blitz (16.9%) outperforms Bullet (5.6%) by 11.3%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense has a sharpness score of 20.0 (drawish), meaning 20.0% of games end decisively. Average game length is 62 moves.
At 2500+ Elo, the Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense has a 4.8% (90% CI: 2.7%-7.5%) win rate for white, based on 215 Lichess games. Average game length is 65 moves with a 90.8% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense has a 5.6% (90% CI: 2.9%-8.9%) win rate for white (151 Lichess games). Draw rate is 89.5%.
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Schlechter Defense is slightly favors black with a 10.8% (90% CI: 7.8%-14.2%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 2500+ Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.