Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Advance Variation
C44 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5
Black scores 46.7% here across 463 club games — but the 11.4% who answer Qe7 score 39.6%, 7 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 463 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 46.7% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d5 | 214 | 46.2% | 51.9% | holds up |
| Ng4 | 103 | 22.2% | 45.1% | holds up |
| Ne4 | 58 | 12.5% | 47.4% | holds up |
| Qe7 | 53 | 11.4% | 39.6% | 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.