Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5
The Ruy Lopez: Open 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 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 125 times by this move order. White won 47%, 13% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nxb5 (99% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 6… Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 8. Nxd4 d5 9. exd6)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2nn4/1B2P3/8/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 26 | |
| 2000+ | 94 | |
| All | 125 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nxb5 | 124 (99%) | |
| 6… Nf5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
2,068 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 13%, draw 75%, Black 12%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 1/2-1/2 · Clutch Chess: Champions · 2025-10-27
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2020 · 2020-09-19
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 20th Aug Late · 2024-08-20
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2852) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 28th Feb Late · 2023-02-28
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1/2-1/2 · Goldmoney Asian Prelim · 2021-06-26
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ChessWarrior_222 (2801) – JelenaZ (2660) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- iyisatranc (2573) – IM Chess_diviner (2674) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Eren0429 (2639) – chessbottler (2578) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, l'Hermet Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6
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.