Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense
C78 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 d6
Black scores 48.4% here across 451 club games — but the 26.8% who answer b5 score 37.2%, 11 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 451 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 48.4% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Be7 | 207 | 45.9% | 60.1% | holds up |
| b5 | 121 | 26.8% | 37.2% | below the line |
| Nxe4 | 63 | 14.0% | 46.8% | holds up |
| d6 | 34 | 7.5% | 32.4% | 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.