Tree path 5 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Ruy Lopez › Spanish Countergambit
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Knight Opening C40
- Normal Variation C44
- Ruy Lopez C60
- Spanish Countergambit C60 you are here
Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit
Overview
Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO C60, Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
Play reaches this position via 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d5, after 6 plies of opening development.
The line refines Ruy Lopez, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.
The line splits into 2 documented sub-systems: Harding Countergambit, Fricke Gambit, Harding Gambit.
Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
110,571 games · White 58.2% / Draw 3.8% / Black 37.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| exd5 | 43,880 | |
| Nxe5 | 35,097 | |
| Bxc6+ | 21,984 | |
| O-O | 2,841 | |
| d3 | 2,467 | |
| Nc3 | 2,231 | |
| d4 | 996 | |
| Qe2 | 665 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:27:51
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