Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation
C47 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4
Black scores 46.8% here across 1,303 club games — but the 9.3% who answer d6 score 38.0%, 9 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 1,303 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 46.8% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| exd4 | 951 | 73.0% | 48.4% | holds up |
| d6 | 121 | 9.3% | 38.0% | below the line |
| Bb4 | 106 | 8.1% | 49.1% | holds up |
| d5 | 55 | 4.2% | 38.2% | below the line |
| Bd6 | 39 | 3.0% | 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.