Four Knights Game: Italian Variation
C50 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6
White scores 47.5% here across 558 club games — but the 22.9% who answer O-O score 41.8%, 6 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 558 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 47.5% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d3 | 249 | 44.6% | 47.8% | holds up |
| O-O | 128 | 22.9% | 41.8% | below the line |
| h3 | 94 | 16.8% | 52.1% | holds up |
| Ng5 | 35 | 6.3% | 47.1% | holds up |
| a3 | 28 | 5.0% | 69.6% | 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.