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
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Berlin Wall Defense 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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 437 times by this move order. White won 42%, 14% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 9. Nc3 (37% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 9. h3 h5 10. Nc3 Be7 11. Ne2 Nh4)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bk1b1r/ppp2ppp/2p5/4Pn2/8/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNB2RK1 w - - 0 9- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 159 | |
| 2000+ | 263 | |
| All | 437 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Nc3 | 162 (37%) | |
| 9. Rd1+ | 81 (19%) | |
| 9. h3 | 73 (17%) | |
| 9. Bg5+ | 52 (12%) | |
| 9. b3 | 22 (5%) | |
| 9. Ng5 | 16 (4%) | |
| 9. Bf4 | 11 (3%) | |
| 9. Nbd2 | 6 (1%) |
Master games
2,588 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 46%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) 1-0 · 3rd Norway Chess 2015 · 2015-06-17
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2865) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd GRENKE Chess Classic · 2015-02-08
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2816) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015 · 2015-09-01
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2783) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) 1-0 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2014 · 2014-04-23
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2792) 1-0 · WCh 2014 · 2014-11-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2886) – FM Alexboy14 (2753) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM mick_chess (2762) – F1nal_Masquerade (2803) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- NeuroChess-Academie (2633) – IM abrakadabra02 (2778) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Berlin Wall C67 · 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
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.