Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense
Chess opening · ECO C65 · 6 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Ruy Lopez with 3… Nf6.
How often it is played
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense and its variations appeared in 0.34% of games — 10,114 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 128 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 49%, 8.4% were drawn and Black won 42%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.23 — a small edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 | 0.44% |
| Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 | 0.35% |
| Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 | 0.20% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 | 0.07% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Beverwijk Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 | 0.06% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Improved Steinitz Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 | 0.04% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 | 0.04% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Nyholm Attack | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O | 0.00% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Fishing Pole Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4 | 0.00% |
| Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nxe5 | 0.00% |
Check your own games
Paste a game, or share one straight from lichess or chess.com, and Chess Analyzer names the opening, marks where the game left known theory and grades every move after it.
Open the analyzer