Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3. Bb5 Nf6)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
The Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C65, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6. 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 50,114 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. O-O (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7)
- ECO
- C65
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 4 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 27,180 | |
| 1500-1999 | 18,207 | |
| 2000+ | 4,727 | |
| All | 50,114 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. O-O Berlin Defense (3… Nf6 4. O-O) | 16,616 (33%) | |
| 4. Bxc6 | 12,490 (25%) | |
| 4. d3 Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation | 10,956 (22%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 7,750 (15%) | |
| 4. d4 | 850 (2%) | |
| 4. c3 | 564 (1%) | |
| 4. Qe2 | 488 (1%) | |
| 4. Nxe5 Halloween Attack | 58 (0%) |
Master games
1,560 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 23%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 12.01 (3810) – Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-22
- Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) – Ethereal 12.01 (3810) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-20
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 0-1 · Carlsen Tour Final 2020 · 2020-08-15
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2784) – GM Levon Aronian (2792) 1-0 · 5th Zurich CC 2016 · 2016-02-13
- GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2706) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2865) 1-0 · 3rd GRENKE Classic TB · 2015-02-09
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmbrewchess (2985) – Nana_jede_cevape (2884) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2892) – IM KAPUTVSEMU (2830) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2882) – InvisibleGuest2023 (2837) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3… Nf6 4. O-O) C65 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Anti-Berlin Variation C65 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3
- Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack C65 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nxe5
- Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Nyholm Attack C65 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O
More Ruy Lopez lines (all)
- 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
- Ruy Lopez: Pollock Defense 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.