Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense
C58 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5
White scores 49.5% here across 754 club games — but the 6.2% who answer Bb3 score 44.7%, 5 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 754 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 49.5% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bb5+ | 566 | 75.1% | 50.7% | holds up |
| Qe2 | 50 | 6.6% | 52.0% | holds up |
| Bb3 | 47 | 6.2% | 44.7% | below the line |
| d3 | 40 | 5.3% | 43.8% | 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.