English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Normal Variation
A34 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3
Black scores 44.9% here across 850 club games — but the 3.3% who answer b6 score 33.9%, 11 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 850 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 44.9% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nc6 | 458 | 53.9% | 45.2% | holds up |
| Nf6 | 103 | 12.1% | 42.7% | holds up |
| d6 | 84 | 9.9% | 46.4% | holds up |
| e6 | 82 | 9.6% | 42.1% | holds up |
| g6 | 58 | 6.8% | 53.4% | holds up |
| b6 | 28 | 3.3% | 33.9% | below the line |
| e5 | 26 | 3.1% | 46.2% | 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.