Italian Game: Two Knights Defense
C55 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5
White scores 53.0% here across 9,073 club games — but the 0.7% who answer Bxf7+ score 36.7%, 16 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 9,073 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 53.0% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d3 | 2,910 | 32.1% | 53.4% | holds up |
| Ng5 | 2,716 | 29.9% | 54.7% | holds up |
| Nc3 | 1,535 | 16.9% | 50.3% | holds up |
| O-O | 880 | 9.7% | 51.6% | holds up |
| d4 | 619 | 6.8% | 55.7% | holds up |
| c3 | 261 | 2.9% | 52.9% | holds up |
| Bxf7+ | 60 | 0.7% | 36.7% | below the line |
| Qe2 | 29 | 0.3% | 51.7% | 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.