Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense
C70 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
White scores 53.6% here across 2,615 club games — but the 1.4% who answer Bc4 score 41.9%, 12 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 2,615 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 53.6% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ba4 | 1,628 | 62.3% | 54.0% | holds up |
| Bxc6 | 945 | 36.1% | 53.4% | holds up |
| Bc4 | 37 | 1.4% | 41.9% | 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.