Opening Leak Lab

Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense

C65 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O

White scores 58.0% here across 785 club games — but the 25.0% who answer Bxc6 score 49.7%, 8 points worse.

What White actually plays here

Across 785 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 58.0% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.

ReplyGamesShare White scoresVerdict
O-O 278 35.4% 68.9% holds up
Bxc6 196 25.0% 49.7% below the line
d3 186 23.7% 53.0% below the line
Nc3 120 15.3% 54.6% 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.

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