Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, Showalter Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Ba4
The Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, Showalter 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. Ba4. 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 44 times by this move order. White won 57%, 9% were drawn and Black won 34%. The most popular continuation is 6… e4 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.04 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 6… e4 7. Ne5 Be7 8. Bb3 O-O 9. Nc3)
- ECO
- C67
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2nn4/4p3/B2P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Ba4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21 | |
| 2000+ | 19 | |
| All | 44 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… e4 | 19 (43%) | |
| 6… exd4 | 16 (36%) | |
| 6… b5 | 4 (9%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 3 (7%) | |
| 6… Nxd4 | 2 (5%) |
Master games
229 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 33%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2770) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-09
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) – GM So, W. (2765) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Finals 2026 · 2026-08-23
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2801) – GM Yi Wei (2755) 1-0 · Chessable Masters Winners · 2025-02-18
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2765) 1-0 · GCT Rapid Paris 2021 · 2021-06-20
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2021 · 2021-06-22
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, Showalter Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM JoeAssaad (2676) – Surreptitiously421 (2598) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- ex-champion (2525) – JustCallMeAdrian (2490) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM TrispiosReturns (2504) – player011011 (2466) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 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.