Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Fishing Pole Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Fishing Pole Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C65, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4. 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 137 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 5. h3 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.84 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5. h3 Nf6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Nxe5 Nd7)
- ECO
- C65
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n5/1B2p3/4P1n1/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 6 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 75 | |
| 1500-1999 | 59 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 137 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. h3 | 79 (58%) | |
| 5. c3 | 17 (12%) | |
| 5. d4 | 16 (12%) | |
| 5. Bxc6 | 9 (7%) | |
| 5. Re1 | 8 (6%) | |
| 5. d3 | 4 (3%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 4 (3%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 0%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- Mehmet Isik (1334) – Ahmet Ari (1611) 0-1 · Turkish Cup 2019 · 2019-01-30
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Fishing Pole Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- emrahboztepe (2097) – zamaan25 (2107) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- Anthony_oz (2026) – valormae (2018) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- saloumacharouka (2033) – Endlessx_100 (1987) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3… Nf6 4. O-O) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O
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.