D04

Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

1,877,464 games: White 47.7% / Draw 5.8% / Black 46.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	723,680724K
	515,750516K
	189,334189K
	113,766114K
	68,13868K
	54,63955K
	47,50948K
	45,71846K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.22 The position is about equal

Best play: 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 a6 7. h3 h6 8. Bd3 dxc4

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 50% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	610K
1400–1799	1.3M
1800–2199	1M
2200 and up	107K
Masters, over the board	617

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle (ECO D04, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5 (3 moves).

In 1,877,464 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.7%, Black 46.5% and 5.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Bd3, in 39% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle

4. c4 scores best for White: 51.5%, with White winning 48.6% and Black 45.6% of 516K games. The most played, 4. Bd3, scores 51.2% in 724K games, and 4. Nbd2 scores lowest: 49.5%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. c4.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle has gained ground since 2016: 0.083% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.061%.

0.061%0.083%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.061%	21,806
2017	0.063%	34,773
2018	0.062%	48,965
2019	0.061%	75,582
2020	0.064%	187,157
2021	0.062%	243,916
2022	0.073%	275,011
2023	0.077%	289,856
2024	0.08%	286,948
2025	0.083%	287,324
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.084%	92,453

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle (D04)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-colle-system-anti-colle