Opening Leak Lab

Sicilian Defense: Closed, Traditional

B23 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6

White scores 47.4% here across 445 club games — but the 29.0% who answer Nf3 score 40.3%, 7 points worse.

What White actually plays here

Across 445 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 47.4% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.

ReplyGamesShare White scoresVerdict
Nf3 129 29.0% 40.3% below the line
g3 126 28.3% 60.3% holds up
f4 53 11.9% 57.5% holds up
d3 46 10.3% 25.0% below the line
Bc4 38 8.5% 31.6% below the line
Bb5 35 7.9% 54.3% 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.

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