Italian Game: Paris Defense
C50 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6
White scores 53.3% here across 1,960 club games — but the 2.2% who answer Ng5 score 37.2%, 16 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 1,960 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 53.3% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d3 | 416 | 21.2% | 53.6% | holds up |
| d4 | 374 | 19.1% | 54.7% | holds up |
| Nc3 | 301 | 15.4% | 54.2% | holds up |
| O-O | 297 | 15.2% | 53.9% | holds up |
| c3 | 266 | 13.6% | 53.2% | holds up |
| h3 | 219 | 11.2% | 53.7% | holds up |
| Ng5 | 43 | 2.2% | 37.2% | below the line |
"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.