Opening Leak Lab

Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation

B22 1. e4 c5 2. c3

Black scores 55.5% here across 507 club games — but the 33.7% who answer Nc6 score 51.8%, 4 points worse.

What Black actually plays here

Across 507 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, Black scores 55.5% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.

ReplyGamesShare Black scoresVerdict
Nc6 171 33.7% 51.8% below the line
d6 76 15.0% 52.0% below the line
e6 75 14.8% 62.7% holds up
d5 68 13.4% 63.2% holds up
Nf6 39 7.7% 56.4% holds up
e5 34 6.7% 41.2% 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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