French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack
C02 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3
Black scores 60.7% here across 466 club games — but the 51.9% who answer Qb6 score 57.6%, 3 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 466 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 60.7% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qb6 | 242 | 51.9% | 57.6% | below the line |
| Bd7 | 67 | 14.4% | 67.9% | holds up |
| cxd4 | 55 | 11.8% | 58.2% | holds up |
| Nge7 | 48 | 10.3% | 74.0% | 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.