Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation
C21 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5 4. Bc4
Black scores 46.8% here across 970 club games — but the 16.9% who answer c5 score 40.2%, 7 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 970 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 46.8% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nc6 | 483 | 49.8% | 45.4% | holds up |
| c5 | 164 | 16.9% | 40.2% | below the line |
| Bc5 | 71 | 7.3% | 59.2% | holds up |
| Nf6 | 71 | 7.3% | 49.3% | holds up |
| d6 | 54 | 5.6% | 43.5% | below the line |
| d5 | 52 | 5.4% | 56.7% | holds up |
| Bb4+ | 35 | 3.6% | 48.6% | holds up |
"Below the line" means the reply scores at least three points worse than the position does overall. Replies played fewer than 25 times are left out: the sample is too small to read.
Is this costing you anything?
A table of averages cannot tell you whether you go wrong here — only your own games can. Opening Leak Lab reads your Chess.com or Lichess archive, finds the decisions you repeat, and checks each one against this book and a bundled Stockfish.