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CatalanOpeningWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

CatalanOpening
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheCatalanisachessopeningwhereWhiteadoptsa
combinationoftheQueen'sGambitandRtiOpening:
Whiteplaysd4andc4andfianchettoesthewhitebishop
ong2.Acommonopeningsequenceis1.d4Nf62.c4e6
3.g3,althoughtheopeningcanarisefromalargenumber
ofmoveorders(seetransposition).ECOcodesE01E09
areforlineswith1.d4Nf62.c4e63.g3d54.Bg2,and
othersarepartofE00.
Blackhastwomainapproachestochoosebetween:inthe
OpenCatalanheplays...dxc4andcaneithertrytohold
ontothepawnwith...b5orgiveitbackforextratimeto
freehisgame.IntheClosedCatalan,Blackdoesnot
captureonc4hisgamecanbesomewhatcrampedfora
while,butisquitesolid.

Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6

History
OpenCatalan,ClassicalLine
Illustrativegames
Seealso
References
Furtherreading

CatalanOpening
a

1
a

Moves

1.d4Nf62.c4e63.g3

ECO

E00E09

Origin

Barcelona,1929,bySavielly
Tartakower

Named
after

Catalonia

Parent

IndianDefence

History
TheCatalanderivesitsnamefromCatalonia,aftertournamentorganisersatthe1929Barcelonatournament
askedSaviellyTartakowertocreateanewvariationinhomagetothearea'schesshistory.Ithadbeen
playedafewtimesbeforeTartakower'susageinthetournament,however:RtiLeonhardt,Berlin1928,for
instance,transposedintoanOpenCatalan.
TheCatalancametoprominenceatthetoplevelwhenbothGarryKasparovandViktorKorchnoiplayedit
intheirCandidatesSemifinalmatch(partoftheprocesstodeterminewhowouldchallengeworldchampion
AnatolyKarpovforthetitle)inLondonin1983:fivegamesoftheelevengamematchwereCatalans.
In2004,RubenFelgaerwonatournamentcelebratingthe75thanniversaryofBarcelona1929andthebirth
oftheCatalanOpening,aheadofGrandmastersViktorKorchnoi,MihailMarin,LluisComasandViktor
MoskalenkoandInternationalMasterManelGranados.Eachgameinthetournament,whichwasalsoheld
inBarcelona,beganwiththemoves1.d4d52.c4e63.g3Nf6.
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WithitsusebyVladimirKramnik,theCatalanhasrecentlygainedagooddealofattentionbyhighlevel
GMs.KramnikplayedtheopeningthreetimesintheWorldChessChampionship2006.TheCatalanwas
alsoplayedfourtimesbyViswanathanAnandintheWorldChessChampionship2010inbothinstances
theopponentwasVeselinTopalov,andineachinstanceWhitescoredtwomorepointsthanBlack.

OpenCatalan,ClassicalLine
TheOpenCatalan,Classicallinebegins1.d4Nf62.c4e63.g3
d54.Bg2dxc45.Nf3Be7.Whitetradesthepawnforaleadin
development.Withoutthed5pawn,White'skingsidebishop
hindersBlack'squeensidedevelopment.TheOpenCatalanline
herehasbeenafavoriteofAnatolyKarpovandEfimGelleras
BlackandOlegRomanishinwiththewhitepieces.Usually,
whitewillrecoverthepawnwithQc2anda4,Ne5,orQa4.In
ordertoholdthepawn,Blackwillhavetoseriouslyweakenthe
queensidewith...a6and...b5.TheECOcodeisE05.

Illustrativegames
KramnikAnand,WijkaanZeechesstournament,2007

1
a

OpenCatalan,Classicalline

1.d4Nf62.c4e63.g3d54.Bg2Be75.Nf3006.00dxc4
7.Qc2a68.Qxc4b59.Qc2Bb710.Bd2Ra711.Rc1Be4
12.Qb3Nc613.e3Qa814.Qd1Nb815.Ba5Rc816.a3Bd617.Nbd2Bd518.Qf1Nbd719.b4e5
20.dxe5Bxe521.Nxe5Nxe522.f3Nc423.Nxc4Bxc424.Qf2Re825.e4c626.Rd1Rd727.Rxd7
Nxd728.Rd1Qb729.Rd6f630.f4Re631.Rd2Re732.Qd4Nf833.Qd8Rd734.Rxd7Qxd7
35.Qxd7Nxd736.e5fxe537.Bxc6Nf638.Bb7exf439.gxf4Nd540.Kf2Nxf441.Ke3g542.Bxa6
Kf743.a4Ke744.Bxb5Bxb545.axb5Kd746.Ke4Ne247.Bb6g448.Bf2Nc349.Kf5Nxb5
50.Kxg4Ke651.Kg5Kf752.Kf5Ke753.Bc510[1]
KramnikCarlsen,DortmundSparkassenChessMeeting,2007
1.Nf3Nf62.c4e63.g3d54.d4Be75.Bg2006.00dxc47.Qc2a68.Qxc4b59.Qc2Bb710.Bd2
Nc611.e3Nb412.Bxb4Bxb413.a3Be714.Nbd2Rc815.b4a516.Ne5Nd517.Nb3axb418.Na5
Ba819.Nac6Bxc620.Nxc6Qd721.Bxd5exd522.axb4Rfe823.Ra5Bf824.Ne5Qe625.Rxb5Rb8
26.Rxb8Rxb827.Qxc7Bd628.Qa5Bxb429.Rb1Qd630.Qa410[2]

Seealso
Listofchessopenings
Listofchessopeningsnamedafterplaces

References
1."VladimirKramnikvsViswanathanAnand(2007)".Chessgames.com.20070119.Retrieved20140125.
2."VladimirKramnikvsMagnusCarlsen(2007)".Chessgames.com.Retrieved20140125.
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Furtherreading
Neishtadt,Yakov(1987).PlaytheCatalan:OpenVariation.
TheWikibookChess
Pergamon.ISBN0080297412.
OpeningTheoryhasapage
Avrukh,Boris(2009).GrandmasterRepertoire1:1.d4VOL.
onthetopicof:Catalan
1.QualityChessUKLLP.ISBN9781906552053.
Opening
Dunnington,Angus(1998).WinningWiththeCatalan.
InternationalChessEnterprises.ISBN9781879479692.
Davies,Nigel(2009).PlaytheCatalan.EverymanChess.ISBN9781857445916.
IdeasforBlackagainsttheCatalan:4...Bb4+(http://brooklyn64.com/2010/ideasforblackagainst
thecatalan4bb4/)
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Categories: Chessopenings 1929inchess
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