Center Game: Normal Variation
C22 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6
White scores 38.2% here across 679 club games — but the 43.9% who answer Qd1 score 34.1%, 4 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 679 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 38.2% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qd1 | 298 | 43.9% | 34.1% | below the line |
| Qe3 | 165 | 24.3% | 46.7% | holds up |
| Qa4 | 86 | 12.7% | 43.0% | holds up |
| Qc4 | 42 | 6.2% | 39.3% | holds up |
| Qd3 | 35 | 5.2% | 34.3% | below the line |
| Qd5 | 29 | 4.3% | 32.8% | below the line |
"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.