Pterodactyl Defense: Queen Pterodactyl, Quiet Line
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3
The Pterodactyl Defense: Queen Pterodactyl, Quiet Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3. It is a line of the Pterodactyl Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 330 times by this move order. White won 45%, 7% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… cxd4 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 4… Nf6 5. d5 e6 6. Nf3 d6 7. Be2)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pp1pppbp/6p1/2p5/2PP4/2N1P3/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 188 | |
| 2000+ | 129 | |
| All | 330 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… cxd4 | 212 (64%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 50 (15%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 22 (7%) | |
| 4… b6 | 10 (3%) | |
| 4… d6 | 9 (3%) | |
| 4… Qa5 | 7 (2%) | |
| 4… a6 | 5 (2%) | |
| 4… f5 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
186 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 30%, draw 14%, Black 56%). The strongest:
- IM Peter Schreiner (2480) – GM Richard Rapport (2726) 0-1 · Bundesliga 2018-19 · 2018-11-25
- GM Artem Omelja (2515) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2678) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th Jun Early · 2022-06-07
- IM Sven Tica (2416) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2658) 0-1 · 20th ch-EUR Indiv 2019 · 2019-03-18
- FM Sergey Kim (2295) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 23rd Mar · 2021-03-23
- FM Erdni Urjubdshzirov (2295) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 23rd Feb · 2021-02-23
Search all games of the Pterodactyl Defense: Queen Pterodactyl, Quiet Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- chess_fighter2806 (2523) – GM gravereaper (2659) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Zairona (2459) – ludwis (2482) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- fritangaa (2394) – damithk (2532) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense 1. d4 g6
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 A42
- Pterodactyl Defense: Central, Bogolubovia A42
- Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Austriadactylus Western B06
- Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Grand Prix Pterodactyl B06
- Pterodactyl Defense: Austrian, Pteranodon 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.