Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6

The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet 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 Nd6. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 832 times by this move order. White won 44%, 11% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bxc6 (76% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8)

ECO: C67
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2nn4/1B2p3/3P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 1 6
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	41	46%49%
1500-1999	315	44%46%
2000+	476	43%14%43%
All	832	44%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. Bxc6	633 (76%)	43%12%45%
6. dxe5 Open Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation	125 (15%)	47%13%40%
6. Ba4 Open Berlin Defense, Showalter Variation	44 (5%)	57%34%
6. Re1	12 (1%)	25%67%
6. a4	5 (1%)	20%80%
6. d5	5 (1%)	20%80%
6. Nxe5	3 (0%)	100%
6. Bg5	2 (0%)	50%50%

Master games

232 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 31%, Black 36%). The strongest:

GM Fabiano Caruana (2820) – GM Anish Giri (2780) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Classic 2021 · 2021-06-09
GM Fabiano Caruana (2757) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2780) 1-0 · Zuerich Chess Challenge Blitz · 2013-02-22
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2749) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2757) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2021 · 2021-07-27
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2763) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1-0 · Meltwater Tour Final 2021 · 2021-10-02
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2717) – GM So, W. (2754) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Super Blitz Poland · 2026-05-08

Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation and its sub-variations

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
ChessWarrior_222 (2801) – JelenaZ (2660) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4

Continuations

Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation C67 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5
Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, Showalter Variation C67 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Ba4
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Westerinen Line C67 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Ne4
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation, Berlin Wall Defense 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

More Ruy Lopez lines (all)

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.