Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack (9… Be7 10. c4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. c4
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C81, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. c4. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: −0.66 (Stockfish, depth 28; best line 10… bxc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Qxe4 Qd5 13. Qf4)
- ECO
- C81
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/2p1bppp/p1n1b3/1p1pP3/2P1n3/1B3N2/PP2QPPP/RNB2RK1 b kq - 0 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 0%, Black 67%). The strongest:
- FM Frederik Svane (2421) – IM Robert Baskin (2390) 1-0 · ch-GER Blitz 2020 · 2020-08-15
- CM David Henry Maycock Bates (2243) – CM Li, V. (2294) 0-1 · II Kingston Inv 2023 · 2023-07-28
- Matheus Garcett Souza dos Santos (1977) – FM Jakub Kusa (2336) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 30th Mar · 2021-03-30
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack and its sub-variations
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack (8… Be6 9. Qe2) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2
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.