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An early ...c5 against the d-pawn that locks the centre and hands White space in exchange for a clear plan.
From 737 games by 259 Chess.com players of every level, September 2026.
In line with Black's average at this level (48.2%). 194 games by 74 players · 1.0% draws
In line with Black's average at this level (47.6%). 62 games by 27 players · 4.8% draws
In line with Black's average at this level (48.6%). 46 games by 16 players · 6.5% draws
The marker on each bar is Black's average score across all openings at that rating and time control. We only call an opening above or below that average when the gap is far beyond the margin (±) — about 1.7 times it — because we compare dozens of openings at once, and chance alone would make a few of them look special.
These positions are decided by concrete calculation and by a single tempo in a race. Studying the typical attacking and defending plans of the structure pays far more than working each position out from scratch at the board.
Sharp lines get played by people who have seen the position before and are counting on you not having. Knowing where the critical moment of the structure is matters more than finding the refutation at the board.
Each line opens its theory page on Chess.com.
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Every week we draw about 1,008 Chess.com players at random from the public player lists of twelve countries, never one already drawn in the previous weeks, and read their rated games from the last complete month. These numbers add up the latest 2 weekly samples: 2,016 players, 1,382 of whom played in September 2026. A game counts once even if both players are in the sample, and no single player can add more than 10 games to the same opening and time control, so one enthusiast cannot tilt the numbers. Rating bands use the average rating of the two players in that time control, because ratings are not comparable between blitz and rapid. Bands with fewer than 40 games or 10 players are shown but not judged. The score counts a draw as half a point. The ± is a 95% margin, but a gap is only judged beyond 3.3 standard errors: with many openings compared at once, a looser line would flag openings by pure chance. Players on this site are never part of the sample.