Caissa Codex
C60

Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit

Chess diagram: Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit after 3…d5

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.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

110,571 games: White 58.2% / Draw 3.8% / Black 37.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
43,88044K
35,09735K
21,98422K
2,8412,841
2,4672,467
2,2312,231
996996
665665

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+1.58 White is clearly better

Best play: 4. Nxe5 a6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d3 Qd6 7. Nf3 Ne7 8. Qe2 Ng6

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

Overview

Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit (ECO C60, Open Games) is a gambit in the Ruy Lopez, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d5 (3 moves).

In 110,571 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 58.2%, Black 37.9% and 3.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. exd5, in 40% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit, Harding Gambit and Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit, Harding Countergambit, Fricke Gambit.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

How to play against the Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit

4. Nxe5 scores best for White: 63.4%, with White winning 61.8% and Black 35.0% of 35K games. The most played, 4. exd5, scores 61.3% in 44K games, and 4. Bxc6+ scores lowest: 54.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. Nxe5.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Variations (2)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 3…d5, the position after Ruy Lopez also goes on to:

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ruy Lopez: Spanish Countergambit (C60)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-spanish-countergambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/ruy-lopez-spanish-countergambit