Catalan Opening: free opening course

Key ideas

• The g2-bishop is the soul of the Catalan: open the long diagonal and Black's queenside (b7, c6, a8) comes under constant pressure.
• If Black grabs c4, do not rush: Qa4+ or Qc2 and Qxc4 win it back, often with a lead in development.
• Use discovered attacks on the long diagonal: when the f3-knight jumps to e5 or g5, the bishop suddenly hits whatever stands on d5, c6, b7 or a8.
• Against the closed set-up (...Be7, ...c6, ...Nbd7) play Qc2, Nbd2 and e4 to gain more central space.
• Against ...Bb4+ block with Bd2 and be ready to recapture toward the centre; the d2-bishop often re-routes to f4 or c3 later.
• Castle early and keep the king safe behind the g3-pawn; White's play comes from the centre and the queenside.

The 6 variations in the course

• Open Catalan: 5...dxc4 6.Qa4+: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 dxc4 6. Qa4+ c6 … — Black takes the c4-pawn and White wins it back at once with the queen check. Black blocks with ...c6 and gains time with ...b5, but this weakens the long diagonal, and White then builds the centre with e4.
• Open Catalan: 7.Qc2 a6, ...b5 holding try: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 … — The main line of the Open Catalan. Black takes c4 and tries to keep it with ...a6 and ...b5; White regains the pawn with Qxc4 and then pressures the queenside and the long diagonal.
• Open Catalan: 5...c5 6.O-O Nc6 7.Qa4: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O Nc6 … — Black hits d4 at once with ...c5. White pins the c6-knight with Qa4 and regains material with a long-diagonal combination: after ...cxd4 Nxd4 Qxd4 Bxc6+ White wins the queen back with Rd1.
• Closed Catalan: ...Be7, ...c6, ...Nbd7, ...b6: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 … — Black keeps the d5-pawn and builds a solid Queen's Gambit set-up. White plays Qc2 and Nbd2, then e4 to take more central space; Black fianchettoes with ...b6 and ...Bb7 and waits for ...c5.
• Catalan with 4...Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O … — Black inserts ...Bb4+ to lure the c1-bishop to d2, then retreats to e7. White's bishop is slightly misplaced on d2, so it often comes back to f4 after Qc2.
• Catalan vs the Bogo-Indian: 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Bxd2+ … — When Black plays ...Bb4+ before ...d5, White blocks with Bd2 and still plays g3 and Bg2. After ...Bxd2+ and ...d6/...e5 Black aims for a solid dark-square structure, while White gains space with e4 and d5.

Traps you will learn (2)

• Open Catalan: the ...Qd5 discovery — In the Open Catalan Black's queen on d5 looks centralised and safe, because the f3-knight blocks the long diagonal. But the knight can jump away with tempo, and then the g2-bishop attacks the queen and the a8-rook behind it.
• Bogo-Catalan: the poisoned d4-pawn — With the White queen on c2 and the bishop on d2, Black's ...Nxd4 looks like it wins a central pawn. In fact the knight is simply lost, and after ...dxc4 Qxc4 the b4-bishop drops as well.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.