English Defense
A40 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6
White scores 56.1% here across 939 club games — but the 10.2% who answer e3 score 52.1%, 4 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 939 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 56.1% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| c4 | 309 | 32.9% | 56.1% | holds up |
| e4 | 194 | 20.7% | 57.5% | holds up |
| Nf3 | 124 | 13.2% | 58.5% | holds up |
| e3 | 96 | 10.2% | 52.1% | below the line |
| Nc3 | 64 | 6.8% | 61.7% | holds up |
| h3 | 46 | 4.9% | 56.5% | holds up |
| Bf4 | 37 | 3.9% | 47.3% | 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.