Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Pteranodon
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. f4 c5 4. c3 Qa5
The Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Pteranodon is a chess opening classified as ECO B06, reached after 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. f4 c5 4. c3 Qa5. It is a line of the Pterodactyl Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.38 (Stockfish, depth 27; best line 5. d5 d6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Bd3 O-O)
- ECO
- B06
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnb1k1nr/pp1pppbp/6p1/q1p5/3PPP2/2P5/PP4PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. f4 c5 4. c3 Qa5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 1 (50%) | |
| 5. Bd2 | 1 (50%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- Wojciech Maslanka (1824) – IM Pawel Teclaf (2464) 0-1 · 8th POL-HUN Blitz 2020 · 2020-09-12
- Mikolaj Wieczorek (1726) – FM Jerzy Kot (2028) 0-1 · 14th Baltic Pearl Open · 2018-06-24
Search all games of the Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Pteranodon and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Pajaro_gris (2045) – anvil17 (1992) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- fparatcha (1930) – Supertonym (1953) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Modern Defense: Three Pawns Attack 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. f4
More Pterodactyl Defense lines (all)
- Pterodactyl Defense: Central, Benoni Beefeater Pterodactyl A40
- Pterodactyl Defense: Central, Benoni Pterodactyl A40
- Pterodactyl Defense: Fianchetto, Queen Benoni Pterodactyl A40
- Pterodactyl Defense: Fianchetto, Queen Pteranodon A40
- Pterodactyl Defense: Fianchetto, Queen Pterodactyl A40
- Pterodactyl Defense: Queen Pterodactyl, Quiet Line A40
- Pterodactyl Defense A42
- Pterodactyl Defense: Central, Bogolubovia A42
- Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Austriadactylus Western B06
- Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Grand Prix Pterodactyl B06
- Pterodactyl Defense: Central, Anhanguera B06
- Pterodactyl Defense: Central, Benoni Quetzalcoatlus B06
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.