Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3… Nf6 4. O-O)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C65, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16,616 times by this move order. White won 55%, 5% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4… Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1)
- ECO
- C65
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 5 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6,351 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7,743 | |
| 2000+ | 2,522 | |
| All | 16,616 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted | 4,903 (30%) | |
| 4… Bc5 Berlin Defense, Beverwijk Variation | 4,469 (27%) | |
| 4… d6 Berlin Defense, Improved Steinitz Defense | 3,352 (20%) | |
| 4… a6 | 1,681 (10%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 654 (4%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 480 (3%) | |
| 4… Nd4 | 304 (2%) | |
| 4… d5 | 294 (2%) |
Master games
388 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 65%, draw 14%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2679) – GM Jorden Van Foreest (2702) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 22nd Feb Early · 2022-02-22
- IM Raja Harshit (2472) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2659) 1-0 · Titled Arena Jan 2nd 2021 · 2021-01-02
- IM Gellert Karacsonyi (2401) – GM Samuel Sevian (2687) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Jan Late · 2023-01-10
- IM Gilbert Elroy Tarigan (2384) – GM Gata Kamsky (2661) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 5th Apr Early · 2022-04-05
- IM Lukas Cernousek (2438) – GM Zbynek Hracek (2585) 1-0 · ch-CZE 2019 · 2019-05-05
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmbrewchess (2985) – Nana_jede_cevape (2884) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2892) – IM KAPUTVSEMU (2830) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2882) – InvisibleGuest2023 (2837) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3. Bb5 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Beverwijk Variation C65 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Fishing Pole Variation C65 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Improved Steinitz Defense C66 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted C67 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- Ruy Lopez C60
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Alapin Defense, Alapin Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Brentano Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Bulgarian Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Paulsen Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense, Tartakower Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense C60
- Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense, Kevitz Gambit C60
- Ruy Lopez: Lucena Variation C60
- Ruy Lopez: Nürnberg Variation C60
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.