Caissa Codex
C65

Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack after 4. Nxe5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

5,930 games: White 31.8% / Draw 2.8% / Black 65.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
5,5625,562
131131
114114
3737
3131
2020
1515
88

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026

Engine evaluation

−3.79 Black is clearly better

Best play: 4... Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. O-O c6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack (ECO C65, Open Games) is a variation of the Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nxe5 (4 moves).

In 5,930 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 31.8%, Black 65.4% and 2.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…Nxe5, in 94% of those games.

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Other lines from the same position

Instead of 4. Nxe5, the position after Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Halloween Attack (C65)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-halloween-attack

https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-halloween-attack