The Catalan Opening is a chess opening where White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3, although various other openings can transpose into the Catalan. The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings lists codes E01–E09 for lines with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2; other lines are part of E00.
In the Catalan, White adopts a combination of the Queen’s Gambit and Réti Opening. White combines the space-gaining moves d4 and c4 with g3, preparing to fianchetto the king’s bishop. This places pressure mainly on the queenside while hoping to keep the white king safe in the long-term. The c4-pawn can become vulnerable, however, and White might have to sacrifice a pawn.
Black has two main approaches to play against the Catalan: in the Open Catalan Black plays …dxc4 and can either try to hold on to the pawn with …b5 or give it back for extra time to free their game. In the Closed Catalan, Black does not capture on c4; their game can be somewhat cramped for a while, but is quite solid. Additionally, Black has ways to avoid the Catalan.
PGN OF THE GAME:
[Event “World Rapid 2021”]
[Site “Warsaw POL”]
[Date “2021.12.26”]
[Round “3.11”]
[White “Carlsen, M.”]
[Black “Dreev, A.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “2856”]
[BlackElo “2623”]
[Variant “Standard”]
[TimeControl “-“]
[ECO “D02”]
[Opening “Queen’s Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation, Pseudo-Catalan”]
[Termination “Unknown”]
[Annotator “lichess.org”]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 { D02 Queen’s Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation, Pseudo-Catalan } c6 4. c4 dxc4 5. Bg2 b5 6. O-O Bb7 7. Ne5 e6 8. b3 cxb3 9. axb3 Nbd7 10. Nxc6 Qb6 11. d5 Nxd5?! { (0.65 → 1.31) Inaccuracy. Bc5 was best. } (11… Bc5 12. Nc3) 12. Na5 Rd8 13. Nxb7 Qxb7 14. Nc3 Nxc3 15. Bxb7 Nxd1 16. Rxd1 Bc5 17. Bb2?! { (1.23 → 0.30) Inaccuracy. Bc6 was best. } (17. Bc6 Ke7) 17… O-O 18. Rac1 Bb4 19. Rd4 Nc5?! { (0.11 → 0.81) Inaccuracy. Be7 was best. } (19… Be7 20. Rc7 Bf6 21. Rcxd7 Rxd7 22. Rxd7 Bxb2 23. Ba6 Rb8 24. Rxa7 Kf8 25. Kg2 h5 26. Rb7) 20. Rxb4 Nxb7 21. Rxb5 Rd7 22. Ba3 Rfd8 23. Rc6 h6 24. Ra6 Nd6 25. Bxd6 Rxd6 26. Rxa7 g5 27. Rbb7 Rf8 28. Rd7 Rb6 29. Rab7 Rxb7 30. Rxb7 Rc8 31. g4 Rc3 32. b4 Kg7 33. Kg2 Rb3 34. b5 Kg6 35. b6 f5?! { (1.87 → 3.15) Inaccuracy. e5 was best. } (35… e5 36. e3) 36. h3 h5? { (3.55 → 6.42) Mistake. fxg4 was best. } (36… fxg4 37. hxg4) 37. gxh5+ Kxh5 38. Rb8 Kg6 39. b7 Kg7 40. e3 e5?! { (5.05 → 7.68) Inaccuracy. Rb5 was best. } (40… Rb5 41. Kf1) 41. f3 Rb1 42. e4 fxe4 43. fxe4 Rb3 44. Kf2 { White wins. } 1-0
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