This is the Catalan Opening, named after the Spanish region of Catalonia, when Grandmaster Savielly Tartakower was asked, at the Barcelona tournament of 1929, to invent an opening system in honor of the region's chess history. Invariably, the Catalan is followed by the moves 3...d5 4.Bg2. The Catalan then has two main branches, the Open Variation and the Closed Variation. In the Open Variation, Black takes the pawn on c4. This gives White strong pressure on Black's queenside, thanks to the fianchettoed bishop on g2. In the Closed Variation, which is more popular, Black retains his strong-point on d5, attempting to block out the bishop on g2.

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