Italian Game
C50 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
Black scores 46.2% here across 6,854 club games — but the 1.2% who answer a6 score 33.1%, 13 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 6,854 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 46.2% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nf6 | 1,863 | 27.2% | 45.5% | holds up |
| Bc5 | 1,822 | 26.6% | 49.2% | holds up |
| h6 | 1,477 | 21.5% | 44.2% | holds up |
| d6 | 652 | 9.5% | 43.9% | holds up |
| Nd4 | 426 | 6.2% | 48.4% | holds up |
| Be7 | 220 | 3.2% | 51.1% | holds up |
| a6 | 83 | 1.2% | 33.1% | below the line |
| f5 | 57 | 0.8% | 49.1% | holds up |
| Qf6 | 53 | 0.8% | 35.8% | below the line |
| Nh6 | 30 | 0.4% | 16.7% | below the line |
| f6 | 29 | 0.4% | 22.4% | below the line |
| Bd6 | 27 | 0.4% | 63.0% | 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.