Elephant Gambit: Paulsen Countergambit
C40 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4
White scores 48.3% here across 637 club games — but the 24.3% who answer Nd4 score 44.2%, 4 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 637 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 48.3% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qe2 | 254 | 39.9% | 47.2% | holds up |
| Nd4 | 155 | 24.3% | 44.2% | below the line |
| Ng1 | 139 | 21.8% | 59.0% | holds up |
| Ne5 | 54 | 8.5% | 47.2% | 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.