Four Knights Game: Italian Variation
C47 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3
Black scores 47.6% here across 924 club games — but the 7.5% who answer d6 score 27.5%, 20 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 924 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 47.6% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bc5 | 289 | 31.3% | 50.3% | holds up |
| h6 | 137 | 14.8% | 47.1% | holds up |
| Be7 | 132 | 14.3% | 48.1% | holds up |
| Bb4 | 123 | 13.3% | 49.2% | holds up |
| Nxe4 | 110 | 11.9% | 59.1% | holds up |
| d6 | 69 | 7.5% | 27.5% | 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.