Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation, Kaufmann Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Be3
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation, Kaufmann Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C65, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Be3. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 132 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bxe3 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 5… Bxe3 6. fxe3 Ne7 7. O-O c6 8. Bc4)
- ECO
- C65
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/1Bb1p3/4P3/3PBN2/PPP2PPP/RN1QK2R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 59 | |
| 1500-1999 | 58 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 132 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bxe3 | 85 (64%) | |
| 5… Bb6 | 17 (13%) | |
| 5… d6 | 8 (6%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 4 (3%) | |
| 5… O-O | 4 (3%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 3 (2%) | |
| 5… Nd4 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 2 (2%) |
Master games
31 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 13%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) 1-0 · SpeedChess Final 2025 · 2026-02-07
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2746) – GM So, W. (2767) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-12-05
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2705) – GM Vincent Keymer (2776) 1-0 · 8th Prague Masters 2026 · 2026-02-25
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2743) – GM Quang Liem Le (2729) 0-1 · 38th Leon GM 2025 · 2025-07-06
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2627) – GM So, W. (2770) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-08
Highest-rated Lichess games
- afchex (2411) – Sergeant_Mark (2450) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- quarkonio (2390) – ataturk94 (2401) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Sasap64 (2372) – ataturk94 (2380) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3
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.