Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Hedgehog Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Hedgehog Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C66, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4 times by this move order. White won 75%, 0% were drawn and Black won 25%. The most popular continuation is 7. Re1 (25% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 7. d5 Nb8 8. a4 O-O 9. b3 Bg4)
- ECO
- C66
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/pppbbppp/2np1n2/1B2p3/3PP3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w kq - 3 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Re1 | 1 (25%) | |
| 7. Bg5 Berlin Defense, Closed Bernstein Variation | 1 (25%) | |
| 7. d5 | 1 (25%) | |
| 7. Bxc6 Berlin Defense, Closed Showalter Variation | 1 (25%) |
Master games
10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 40%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- FM Nico Georgiadis (2394) – IM Roland Ekstroem (2420) 0-1 · TCh-SUI 2013 · 2013-09-08
- IM Mario Villanueva (2476) – FM Francisco Varacalli (2287) 1-0 · 93rd ch-ARG Semi-Final · 2018-05-23
- IM Zoran S Markovic (2361) – IM Goran N Todorovic (2388) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-Central SRB 2012 · 2012-10-02
- FM Juan Bertorello (2344) – FM Francisco Varacalli (2309) 1/2-1/2 · XIX ITT Vicente Lopez · 2017-08-20
- IM Lukas Klima (2342) – IM Petr Poloch (2261) 1-0 · TCh-CZE Extraliga 2013-14 · 2013-11-02
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Hedgehog Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- atsaynm (2672) – Zaplya (2538) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Fist_Face (2135) – mattin7 (2147) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Kryptonopolis (2366) – Tiyok-Munjungan (1735) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Improved Steinitz Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Closed Bernstein Variation C66 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Bg5
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Closed Showalter Variation C66 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Bxc6
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.