Queen's Pawn Game: London System, Pterodactyl Variation
Queen's Pawn Game: London System, Pterodactyl Variation is a chess opening with the ECO code D02, part of the Queen's Pawn Game family. It goes 1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 Qa5+. White opens with 1. d4 (the queen's pawn) and Black answers 1... g6. After 10 moves it is White to move. The lesson on the board explains every move of the line and lets you play it yourself; it is free.
The moves
1. d4 – White plays the pawn to d4
1... g6 – Black plays the pawn to g6
2. Nf3 – White plays the knight to f3
2... Bg7 – Black plays the bishop to g7
3. Bf4 – White plays the bishop to f4
3... c5 – Black plays the pawn to c5
4. c3 – White plays the pawn to c3
4... cxd4 – Black captures on d4 with the c-pawn
5. cxd4 – White captures on d4 with the c-pawn
5... Qa5+ – Black plays the queen to a5, giving check
About the Queen's Pawn Game
White opens with 1.d4 and plays a system without an early c4. It covers many calm setups like the Colle, London and Zukertort ideas.
White develops simply: Nf3, e3 or Bf4, Bd3, O-O.
A typical plan is the e4 push, often prepared with Nbd2 and c3.
Black has easy equality with ...d5, ...Nf6 and ...c5, so play actively.
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