Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Cordel Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. Qe2 Nd6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. dxe5 Nf5
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Cordel Variation 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 Be7 6. Qe2 Nd6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. dxe5 Nf5. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.60 (Stockfish, depth 29; best line 9. Qe4 d5 10. exd6 Qxd6 11. Re1 O-O)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/p1ppbppp/2p5/4Pn2/8/5N2/PPP1QPPP/RNB2RK1 w kq - 1 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. Qe2 Nd6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. dxe5 Nf5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 50%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2754) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2731) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Blitz Men 2013 · 2013-12-16
- GM Zahar Efimenko (2652) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2682) 0-1 · Najdorf Mem Open A 2015 · 2015-07-16
- GM Robert Hovhannisyan (2634) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2616) 0-1 · ARM Olympiad Qualifier · 2019-02-04
- WFM Agasiyeva, F. (2039) – Alexander Gorskiy (1708) 1/2-1/2 · Bolkhov Tournament 2017 · 2017-10-05
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Cordel Variation and its sub-variations
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio de Janeiro Variation (5. d4 Be7) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7
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.