Colle System: Pterodactyl Variation

1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Qa5+

Colle System: Pterodactyl Variation after 1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Qa5+ 87654321abcdefgh

The Colle System: Pterodactyl Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Qa5+. It is a line of the Colle System. White is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.52 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 5. Bd2 Qb6 6. c4 Qxb2 7. Nc3 Qb6)

ECO
A40
Moves
8 plies
FEN
rnb1k1nr/pp1pppbp/6p1/q1p5/3P4/3BPN2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 2 5
PGN
1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Qa5+

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Comes from

Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense 1. d4 g6

More Colle System lines (all)

Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.