Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Open Variation
C56 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4
Black scores 44.5% here across 652 club games — but the 11.5% who answer Nxe4 score 35.3%, 9 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 652 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 44.5% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| exd4 | 435 | 66.7% | 46.9% | holds up |
| Nxe4 | 75 | 11.5% | 35.3% | below the line |
| d6 | 49 | 7.5% | 40.8% | below the line |
| d5 | 28 | 4.3% | 35.7% | below the line |
| Nxd4 | 25 | 3.8% | 48.0% | 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.