English Opening: Symmetrical Variation
A30 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3
White scores 55.8% here across 1,553 club games — but the 2.6% who answer d3 score 43.9%, 12 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 1,553 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 55.8% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nc3 | 857 | 55.2% | 55.2% | holds up |
| g3 | 245 | 15.8% | 55.5% | holds up |
| Nf3 | 157 | 10.1% | 59.9% | holds up |
| e3 | 132 | 8.5% | 61.4% | holds up |
| d4 | 45 | 2.9% | 54.4% | holds up |
| d3 | 41 | 2.6% | 43.9% | below the line |
| e4 | 37 | 2.4% | 56.8% | holds up |
| b3 | 29 | 1.9% | 51.7% | 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.