Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System (2… Nf6 3. e3)
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3
The Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System is a chess opening classified as ECO D04, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3. It is a line of the Queen's Pawn Game. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 19,558 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… e6 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 3… c5 4. c4 cxd4 5. exd4 g6 6. cxd5)
- ECO
- D04
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/3p4/3P4/4PN2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6,446 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10,224 | |
| 2000+ | 2,888 | |
| All | 19,558 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… e6 Colle System (3. e3 e6) | 5,041 (26%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 3,423 (18%) | |
| 3… Bf5 Colle System, Anti-Colle | 3,348 (17%) | |
| 3… Bg4 | 3,138 (16%) | |
| 3… c5 | 1,571 (8%) | |
| 3… g6 | 984 (5%) | |
| 3… c6 | 874 (4%) | |
| 3… a6 | 563 (3%) |
Master games
3,801 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 23%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-08
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-04
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM So, W. (2815) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-11-18
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 17th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-17
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2803) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2760) 0-1 · Chessable Masters Winners · 2025-02-18
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- byrize11 (2654) – Pyama_Ninja (2828) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- chaaa116 (2698) – Kasparov_Aram (2691) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- chaaa116 (2720) – GM titan00013 (2653) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6
Continuations
- Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System (3. e3 e6) D05 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6
- Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle D04 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5
- Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Grünfeld Formation D04 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. Bd3 Bg7
More Queen's Pawn Game lines (all)
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4) A40
- Queen's Pawn Game: Anglo-Slav Opening A40
- Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense A40
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d6) A41
- Queen's Pawn Game: Rossolimo Variation A41
- Queen's Pawn Game: Liedmann Gambit A43
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (2. Nc3 d5) A45
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack A45
- Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack, Breyer Variation A46
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov Attack, Classical Defense A46
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (3… d5 4. Bf4) A48
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (4. Bf4 Bg7) A48
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.