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
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. It is a line of the Ruy Lopez. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 17 times by this move order. White won 29%, 6% were drawn and Black won 65%. The most popular continuation is 9… Be7 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.06 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 9… Nc5 10. Be3 Be7 11. Nc3 Nxb3 12. cxb3)
- ECO
- C81
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r2qkb1r/2p2ppp/p1n1b3/1p1pP3/4n3/1B3N2/PPP1QPPP/RNB2RK1 b kq - 2 9- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 17 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Be7 | 9 (53%) | |
| 9… Nc5 | 4 (24%) | |
| 9… Bc5 | 2 (12%) | |
| 9… Bg4 | 1 (6%) | |
| 9… Qd7 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
613 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 39%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2808) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2800) 0-1 · GCT Rapid Paris 2017 · 2017-06-22
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1-0 · Lindores Abbey Final 8 · 2020-05-30
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) – GM Anish Giri (2790) 1/2-1/2 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016 · 2016-06-02
- GM Anish Giri (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
- GM Anish Giri (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 3m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
Search all games of the Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FuriaEn64 (2623) – Byvshev22 (2459) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM Arrowlimit (2549) – nightmareluffy (2479) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- T-80BVM (2577) – Warmaster1 (2400) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ruy Lopez: Open, Main Line 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
Continuations
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack (9… Be7 10. c4) C81 · 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
- Ruy Lopez: Open, Howell Attack, Ekstrom Variation C81 · 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. Rd1 O-O 11. c4 bxc4 12. Bxc4 Qd7
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.