Catalan Opening.TCG

Hi today I'll guide you through the mad catalan opening

©wikipedia

I.Introduction

1.Quicknote

So the catalan is a opening where well .... it just weird it kinda a combonations of the king indians defence(check my blog about this opening click here) and the queen gambit and... etc anyways here the moves:

1.d4 Nf6

2.c4 e6

3.g3

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 the opening can arise from a large number of move orders

Black has two main approaches to choose between after 3....d5 5. Bg2: in the Open Catalan he plays ...dxc4 and can either try to hold on to the pawn with ...b5 or give it back for extra time to free his game. In the Closed Catalan, Black does not capture on c4; his game can be somewhat cramped for a while, but is quite solid.

The Catalan is generally seen as a safe way for White to get a small advantage.

2.History

quote"The Catalan derives its name from Catalonia, after tournament organisers at the 1929 Barcelona tournament asked Savielly Tartakower to create a new variation in homage to the area's chess history. It had been played a few times before Tartakower's usage in the tournament, however: Réti–Leonhardt, Berlin 1928, for instance, transposed into an Open Catalan.

The Catalan came to prominence at the top level when both Garry Kasparov and Viktor Korchnoi played it in their Candidates Semifinal match in London in 1983: five games of the eleven-game match were Catalans.

In 2004, Ruben Felgaer won a tournament celebrating the 75th anniversary of Barcelona 1929 and the birth of the Catalan Opening, ahead of Grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi, Mihail Marin, Lluis Comas and Viktor Moskalenko and International Master Manel Granados. Each game in the tournament, which was also held in Barcelona, began with the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6.

With its use by Vladimir Kramnik, the Catalan has recently gained a good deal of attention by high-level GMs. Kramnik played the opening three times in the World Chess Championship 2006. The Catalan was also played four times by Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010; in both instances the opponent was Veselin Topalov, and in each instance White scored two more points than Black."-according to wikipedia

II.The only variation

Suprise suprise only one variation the Open Catalan, Classical Line

Open Catalan Classical Line:4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 Be7

White trades the pawn for a lead in development. Without the d5 pawn, White's kingside bishop hinders Black's queenside development. The Open Catalan line here has been a favorite of Anatoly Karpov and Efim Geller as Black and Oleg Romanishin with the white pieces. Usually, white will recover the pawn with Qc2 and a4, Ne5, or Qa4. In order to hold the pawn, Black will have to seriously weaken the queenside with ...a6 and ...b5.

III.2 Chess master game with the catalan

So today is weird we have Games of masters instead of how to play because there only 1 varitions so here 2 game:

1.Kramnik–Anand, Wijk aan Zee chess tournament, 2007 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Ra7 11.Rc1 Be4 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.e3 Qa8 14.Qd1 Nb8 15.Ba5 Rc8 16.a3 Bd6 17.Nbd2 Bd5 18.Qf1 Nbd7 19.b4 e5 20.dxe5 Bxe5 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.f3 Nc4 23.Nxc4 Bxc4 24.Qf2 Re8 25.e4 c6 26.Rd1 Rd7 27.Rxd7 Nxd7 28.Rd1 Qb7 29.Rd6 f6 30.f4 Re6 31.Rd2 Re7 32.Qd4 Nf8 33.Qd8 Rd7 34.Rxd7 Qxd7 35.Qxd7 Nxd7 36.e5 fxe5 37.Bxc6 Nf6 38.Bb7 exf4 39.gxf4 Nd5 40.Kf2 Nxf4 41.Ke3 g5 42.Bxa6 Kf7 43.a4 Ke7 44.Bxb5 Bxb5 45.axb5 Kd7 46.Ke4 Ne2 47.Bb6 g4 48.Bf2 Nc3 49.Kf5 Nxb5 50.Kxg4 Ke6 51.Kg5 Kf7 52.Kf5 Ke7 53.Bc5 1–0

2.Kramnik–Carlsen, Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, 2007 

so that it.I hope you enjoy 

PEACE!