Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Westerinen Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Ne4
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Westerinen Line 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 Ne4. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 75%, 0% were drawn and Black won 25%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qxd8+ (75% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.65 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 8. Qe2 Bf5 9. Rd1 Qe7 10. Be3 Qe6)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2p5/4P3/4n3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Ne4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qxd8+ | 3 (75%) | |
| 8. Qe2 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
25 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 40%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2795) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2652) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-08-30
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2795) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2652) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-08-30
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2795) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2652) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-08-30
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2748) – GM Nihal Sarin (2682) 1-0 · Titled Tue 30th Jul Late · 2024-07-30
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2656) 1-0 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 6th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Turlov (2522) – semnik (2364) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- EisernerTiger (2317) – El_Sudaca (2326) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Mohassi (2102) – cucumber245 (2052) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
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
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.