Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nxe5
The Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C65, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nxe5. 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 58 times by this move order. White won 28%, 3% were drawn and Black won 69%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe5 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.95 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 4… Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. O-O c6 7. Bd3)
- ECO
- C65
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/1B2N3/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 46 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 58 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe5 | 53 (91%) | |
| 4… d6 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… Nxe4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… h6 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… Bc5 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 1 (2%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- james4285 (2209) – atyaa93 (2043) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- Klodshans85 (2024) – Klagen1 (2021) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- tumami_I (1957) – Zhas1k20 (1922) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3. Bb5 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
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.