Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rosenthal Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 a6
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rosenthal 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 a6. 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 44 times by this move order. White won 70%, 0% were drawn and Black won 30%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bxc6 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/1B2p3/3Pn3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 20 | |
| 1500-1999 | 18 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 44 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bxc6 | 28 (64%) | |
| 6. Ba4 | 14 (32%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6. Bc4 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 26%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2677) – GM Mikhail Mozharov (2555) 0-1 · Moscow Blitz Final 2014 · 2014-09-06
- GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2542) – GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2470) 1/2-1/2 · US Chess League 2013 · 2013-10-23
- FM Dmitry Rostovtsev (2284) – GM Vladimir Potkin (2555) 1/2-1/2 · Yuri Dokhoian Mem Rapid · 2024-11-16
- IM Harry Grieve (2459) – FM Bao Nghia Dong (2327) 1/2-1/2 · 109th ch-GBR 2023 · 2023-07-28
- IM Remy Degraeve (2463) – WIM Andriasian, S. (2144) 1-0 · TCh-FRA Top 16 GpA 2026 · 2026-06-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rosenthal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- legko2019 (2674) – BEASTLYGAMER99 (2679) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Responsible_Landgrav (2321) – JenskiiFischer (2277) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- jangolak (2190) – Pedro7602171 (2188) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4
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.