Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Berlin Wall
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Bd7
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Berlin Wall is a chess opening classified as ECO C67, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Bd7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 31 times by this move order. White won 19%, 26% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 10. Rd1 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 47; best line 10. h3 h6 11. b3 c5 12. Bb2 Kc8)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r2k1b1r/pppb1ppp/2p5/4Pn2/8/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1B2RK1 w - - 2 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Bd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 31 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Rd1 | 9 (29%) | |
| 10. h3 | 8 (26%) | |
| 10. Bg5+ | 6 (19%) | |
| 10. Ng5 | 2 (6%) | |
| 10. Ne4 | 2 (6%) | |
| 10. b3 | 2 (6%) | |
| 10. g4 | 1 (3%) | |
| 10. Bf4 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
290 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 40%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-22
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-22
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2783) – GM Levon Aronian (2803) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Blitz Men 2013 · 2013-12-15
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2810) 0-1 · FIDE Candidates · 2013-03-27
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2770) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Berlin Wall and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- B_Georgiev (2366) – m-s-g (2315) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Slava_The_Creator (2239) – TURKEYGM31313131 (2344) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Docpaw (2274) – nichtaufregen (2270) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Berlin Wall Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8
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.