D05

Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Traditional Colle

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Statistics from Lichess

931,944 games: White 53.0% / Draw 5.1% / Black 41.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	480,736481K
	176,196176K
	91,67892K
	50,79851K
	49,37849K
	26,01226K
	21,93622K
	16,48616K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.05 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... b6 6. Nbd2 Bb7 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Re1 Be7 9. e4 cxd4 10. Nxd4

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

By rating

The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 57% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	106K
1400–1799	509K
1800–2199	543K
2200 and up	62K
Masters, over the board	688

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, Traditional Colle (ECO D05, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a chess opening that starts 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 d5 5. c3.

In 931,944 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 53.0%, Black 41.9% and 5.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Nc6, in 52% of those games.

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Description

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

5…Be7 scores best for Black: 46.0%, with Black winning 43.3% and White 51.3% of 49K games. The most played, 5…Nc6, scores 45.3% in 481K games, and 5…c4 scores lowest: 39.8%. Stockfish's first choice is 5…b6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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, Traditional Colle has gained ground since 2016: 0.04% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.03%.

0.03%0.04%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.03%	10,855
2017	0.034%	18,614
2018	0.033%	26,289
2019	0.029%	36,341
2020	0.027%	79,322
2021	0.027%	104,856
2022	0.04%	151,295
2023	0.042%	156,433
2024	0.041%	148,254
2025	0.04%	138,847
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.04%	44,120

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, Traditional Colle (D05)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-colle-system-traditional-colle