Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit
C44 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4
Black scores 38.4% here across 555 club games — but the 19.8% who answer h6 score 30.9%, 7 points worse.
What Black actually plays here
Across 555 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 38.4% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | Black scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bc5 | 145 | 26.1% | 43.4% | holds up |
| Nf6 | 130 | 23.4% | 50.0% | holds up |
| h6 | 110 | 19.8% | 30.9% | below the line |
| d6 | 53 | 9.5% | 34.0% | below the line |
| Be7 | 47 | 8.5% | 22.3% | below the line |
| Bb4+ | 25 | 4.5% | 44.0% | holds up |
"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.