<After 8.Qc2 this is what the Huge Book opening database has for the main line: 8...b6 9.Bf4 Bb7 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.Nc3 Rc8>

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I found 27 games (both players above 2500) with <+9 -3 =15>.

4.2 Moves from the report position

Move ECO Frequency Score AvElo Perf AvYear %Draws

1: Ne5 19: 70.3% 60.5% 2604 2680 2005 58%

2: b3 4: 14.8% 87.5% 2003 25%

3: Rac1 3: 11.1% 33.3% 1999 67%

4: e4 1: 3.7% 50.0% 2001 100% ________________________________________________-
_______________
TOTAL: 27:100.0% 61.1% 2594 2687 2004 56%

The position after <12.Ne5> was reached 28 times (some by transposition) with a score of <+8 -4 =16>. The position after <12.b3> led to a score of +5 -1 =3> (again, some transpositions). <12.Rac1> led to +0 -1 =2> and <12.e4> led to <+0 -0 =1>.

There is much to like about reaching this position if we can.

cool stuff

He centralizes his pieces and keeps them centralized throughout while probing for weaknesses.

Once he hits on the right idea, he quickly pounces for the kill and wins:

<<8.Qc2 b6 9.Bf4>

[+0.06] d=26 9...dxc4 11.Bxb8 Rxb8 12.Nxc4 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Rac1 Bb7 15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Nfe5 Rbc8 17.Qb3 Rfe8 18.e3 h6 19.Nd3 Red8 20.a4 Ba6 >

Interesting that OE doesn't show any games where black plays <9...dxc4>. Anyone know why?

BTW, I have a hard time getting excited about playing Bf4 just so we can exchange it for the Nb8 (as shown in <RV>'s line), which arguably helps black by putting his rook on a better square.

So, I'm currently looking at the variant where it continues:

<10.Nbd2 Nd5 11.<Nxc4> Nxf4 12.gxf4>

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<You might try to download some software to tell you what the temperature of your processor is. If it is too hot, you might need to put an external fan on your processor. At one point I had fans running on all my PCs.>>

<I water-cool one of my PCs for this very reason.>

<By the way, keep up the good work - I am impressed with your input to this game.>

in the event of the desired 8. ... b6 and your recommendation of 9.Ne5 what do your engines give as best play, just out of interest? Anything along the lines of:

9.Ne5 Bb7 10.Rc1 Nbd7 11.cxd5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nxd5 13.a3 Bc5 14.Nc3 Qb8 15.Ne4 Be7 16.f4 Rd8 17.b4 Rc8 18.Bf3 c5 19.Qb3 cxb4 20.axb4 Rxc1+ 21.Rxc1

Stockfish 1 8 JA : +0.12. Depth: 24. odes: 512.4 M

BTW, I'm also very impressed by your analysis of the position. You know your Catalan.>

Thanks - again.

I have been curious about "water-cooled" systems. But to convert mine to that would take a ton of cash, I'm afraid.

Thanks for those directions - I now have Stockfish operational!>

<Sep-15-10 chancho: I like the approach Razuvaev uses in this Catalan game.

He centralizes his pieces and keeps them centralized throughout while probing for weaknesses.

Once he hits on the right idea, he quickly pounces for the kill and wins:

Razuvaev vs Eingorn, 1986>

Another good game, thanks <chancho> for pointing this out.

in the event of the desired 8. ... b6 and your recommendation of 9.Ne5 what do your engines give as best play, just out of interest? Anything along the lines of: ... ... ... >

Check the engine room, I have posted a ton of stuff there. (And I am still working on it.) Believe it or not, as soon as we entered the Catalan, I identified this as one of the possible lines of play. We call it the "Bogo-Cat," some early opening books don't even look at it!!!

1.) ad <Caruana-Nielsen> (i don't know how to provide a link) and <Aronian-Alekseev>

8. Qc2 Nbd7, 9. Bf4 b6, 10. Rd1 Bb7,
11. Nc3 and now dc4
12. Nd2 Nd5 13. Nc4 Nf4 14. gf4
and just look into the structure!

From the engine room:
<<<<<Sep-11-10 <LIFE Master AJ:>> After over 10 hours of analysis ... >

[750MB, Fritz-12.] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 b6;>

The # 1 move is 9.Nc3 " " +0.47; 29 ply. 4,320 kN/s>

I am continuing to let it run.>

I was actually doing only my second or third "deep position analysis" (on possible ninth move alternatives - see a few of my earlier posts) when my box had a hiccup. (Had to re-boot. I actually shut down for half an hour ... following RV's <indirect> recommendation to let my tower cool off.)>

Aha! Nice one - I checked it out, our engines disagree but you searched much deeper than I, so it's no surprise. I posted my analysis in the analysis tree anyway at the node 9.Ne5 - you may want to update it with your better analysis or it might mislead people.

On that note I'd like to remind everyone of the importance of please posting your analysis in the analysis tree! One of the biggest advantages we have over GMP is our greater computing power - so it's imperative that we use this advantage effectively. Posting in forums is grand but it becomes very difficult to navigate when there are 220+ pages of commentary.

So, if you do some deep analysis - please update the analysis tree; there's a text box where you can cut and paste the line at each node (some may find entering every move to be a little tedious). Just a reminder, thanks!