Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Minckwitz Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. dxe5
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Minckwitz 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 Be7 6. dxe5. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 12 times by this move order. White won 58%, 0% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 6… O-O (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 6… d5 7. exd6 Nxd6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Ne5)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppppbppp/2n5/1B2P3/4n3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. dxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 12 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… O-O | 10 (83%) | |
| 6… d5 | 1 (8%) | |
| 6… Nc5 | 1 (8%) |
Master games
26 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 31%, Black 15%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-18
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2677) – GM Vladimir Malakhov (2696) 1/2-1/2 · Moscow Blitz Final 2014 · 2014-09-06
- GM Erald Dervishi (2564) – GM David Marciano (2475) 1-0 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-11
- GM Velimir Ivic (2561) – GM Nikola Sedlak (2440) 1/2-1/2 · 31st TCh-MKD 2023 · 2023-09-01
- GM Erald Dervishi (2568) – IM Ilir Seitaj (2371) 1-0 · Durres Open 2014 · 2014-11-06
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Minckwitz Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- mauroisaza (2361) – mightysonce (2449) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Rikstov88 (2401) – DeDik12 (2322) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Stanislav_Pruzhinin (2318) – almoks (2316) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio de Janeiro Variation (5. d4 Be7) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7
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.