Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Classical Variation
C48 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5
White scores 50.1% here across 423 club games — but the 29.3% who answer O-O score 43.5%, 7 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 423 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 50.1% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bxc6 | 167 | 39.5% | 49.7% | holds up |
| O-O | 124 | 29.3% | 43.5% | below the line |
| d3 | 83 | 19.6% | 55.4% | holds up |
| Nxe5 | 29 | 6.9% | 65.5% | 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.