page 1 of 16; games 1-25 of 385  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. T Regedzinski vs M Brody 1-0 19 1928 Olympiad E01 Catalan, Closed 2. J Brunner vs F Acevedo 1-0 42 1932 Mexico City E01 Catalan, Closed 3. Flohr vs G A Thomas 1-0 28 1937 Hastings 1937/38 E01 Catalan, Closed 4. Reshevsky vs A Thomas   1-0 53 1938 Hastings 1937/38 E01 Catalan, Closed 5. Menchik vs P Frydman 0-1 63 1938 Lodz E01 Catalan, Closed 6. Alekhine vs Trompowsky 1-0 38 1938 Montevideo (13) E01 Catalan, Closed 7. Golombek vs E G Sergeant 1-0 34 1938 Hastings 1938/39 E01 Catalan, Closed 8. M Raizman vs A Gromer   ½-½ 47 1938 FRA-ch E01 Catalan, Closed 9. M Raizman vs A Gibaud   1-0 49 1938 FRA-ch E01 Catalan, Closed 10. A Cass vs A Kreymborg   1-0 33 1938 Metropolitan Chess League E01 Catalan, Closed 11. Golombek vs G A Thomas   ½-½ 23 1939 Hastings 1938/39 E01 Catalan, Closed 12. Flohr vs G Wheatcroft 1-0 25 1939 Margate E01 Catalan, Closed 13. G Abrahams vs E Klein   0-1 47 1939 Bournemouth E01 Catalan, Closed 14. Flohr vs E Klein   ½-½ 53 1939 Bournemouth E01 Catalan, Closed 15. A Thomas vs Aitken 1-0 64 1939 Bournemouth E01 Catalan, Closed 16. V Petrov vs Trompowsky   1-0 29 1939 Buenos Aires ol (Men) f-A E01 Catalan, Closed 17. Capablanca vs Trompowsky 1-0 36 1939 Buenos Aires ol (Men) f-A E01 Catalan, Closed 18. I A Horowitz vs C Jaffe   1-0 56 1939 USA Ch E01 Catalan, Closed 19. I Pogrebissky vs M Stolberg   0-1 50 1940 URS-sf E01 Catalan, Closed 20. Flohr vs V Makogonov 0-1 45 1942 Baku m E01 Catalan, Closed 21. Fine vs Pinkus   ½-½ 60 1944 USA ch E01 Catalan, Closed 22. Ragozin vs Bondarevsky   0-1 63 1945 USSR Championship E01 Catalan, Closed 23. Alatortsev vs Verlinsky   1-0 27 1945 URS-sf E01 Catalan, Closed 24. Bondarevsky vs G Goldberg   ½-½ 57 1945 USSR Championship E01 Catalan, Closed 25. Smyslov vs F Zita 1-0 33 1946 Prag E01 Catalan, Closed  page 1 of 16; games 1-25 of 385    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Dec-11-03    SilentWitness: What's the cause of White's extremely large (almost 50%) winning percentage in this line of the Catalan? Is it because Black has not found many resources against this opening? Dec-11-03    Bears092: It's a small sample size. You need 1600 games in order to make an accurate percentage* of what white should win As accurate as this will be. You'll still have players of different strengths as different colors. Feb-22-04    OneBadDog: The Catalan is one of the most elegant openings out there. Mar-24-04    ruylopez900: Is the Catalan considered an Indian opening (because of the fianchetto), simple hypermodern (control with the Bishop), or a rather normal opening (d4 and c4?) Any thoughts about this? Apr-29-04    Vischer: If this is the catalan closed, is there such thing as the catalan open? Apr-29-04    refutor: yes Catalan, Open, 5.Qa4 (E02) Aug-30-04    spudweb: The Catalan is a good solid opening, but is it possible to play it against the Slav move order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 or QGD 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 ? many thanks Aug-30-04    Helloween: <spudweb> It is very possible and practical for a Catalan practitioner to play the Catalan against the QGD move order, usually by way of 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3. Against the Slav move order, however, it may be a bit dubious to play g2-g3 so early since Black is already a step ahead in consolidating his extra pawn, as in T Grabuzova vs A Stefanova, 1997 Jun-18-05    superiorNOshow: If Black wanted it to, it could resemble the KIA formation on the black side(e.g. c6 d5 and e6 pattern.) Jun-18-05    buscher07: <Helloween> That is a really good example game to illustrate your point. Have a nice day everyone!! :) Mar-14-06    blingice: What exactly characterizes a Catalan as a Catalan? Is it the Queen's Gambit principle, but taking the pawn back with the bishop is ignored so as to get a fianchetto? I wouldn't understand why someone would intentionally ignore taking the pawn back, as it is restrictive. A fianchetto doesn't seem like the sacrifice anyway, because fianchettos seem to be easily deconstructed by removing the knight. Mar-14-06    Eric Schiller: <blingice> A catalan involves Nf3, d4, c4 and g3 for White against Nf6, e6, e5 for Black. Taking the pawn is no big deal because White regains it with Qa4+, or sometimes Qc2, or delays the capture, playing a4 to insure that Black can't defend it with ...b5. It is a very good opening and has been used by many top players. Apr-23-06    McCool: Has anyone seen Catalan play any games? Apr-23-06    Jim Bartle: I like the Catalan with Nc3, effectively deciding not to regain the pawn. I have doubts it would work against better players, though. Jun-08-06    refutor: so is there nothing wrong with going into it after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6? Jun-09-06    Jilted Rook: <blingice> The pawn on d5 subsides allowing the White bishop to dominate along the h1-a8 diagonal. This often has a cramping and needling effect on Black's queenside development. It's a pleasingly positional opening for both White and Black and rewards many that delve a little further into its secrets :) Feb-28-07    thatsmate: How is Kramnik not down as one of the practitioners? He has more games as white with it than any of those players, and he has a rather stunning record with it: +7 =7 -0, even agaisnt such notables as Deep Fritz, Topalov, and Anand. Feb-28-07    Marvol: <thatsmate> It's the curse of move-order I'd think. Feb-28-07    Marvol: Just one example, here Kramnik vs Aronian, 2006 after white's 6th move it looks like a Catalan. Unfortunately it has by that time already been classified as an English because Kramnik started with 1.c4. Feb-28-07    Eric Schiller: The database is misleading. I have over 7,000 Catalans, including relevant transpositions. It is a good opening if you like exploiting small positional advantages. So it suits Kramnik well, but fighting spirits like Kasparov and Korchnoi have used it, too. White probably has better chances in the Catalan than in Nimzo-Indian and Queenn's Indian lines. Feb-28-07    keypusher: <Just one example, here Kramnik vs Aronian, 2006 after white's 6th move it looks like a Catalan.> Not a Catalan. Black hasn't played ...d5, among other things. The database appears to pick up transpositions, at least sometimes. Kramnik vs Carlsen, 2007 Apr-12-08    LEONIDAS86: HELLO, me gustaria saber un pocos mas a fondo las ideas de la apertura catalana si alguien me puede ayudar le agradezco. Dec-12-09    Roger Krueger: Going waaaaay back to SilentWitness: E01 looks grim for black because black's best choice of 4th move--dxc4--mostly leads to other classifications of Catalan, E02-E05. For thatsmate and EricSchiller as well as Silent Witness: A game is only counted in the most specific (aka most moves) ECO it qualifies for. You want the Catalan with some Kramniks and decent black percentages look to E04. May-23-11    Penguincw: Opening of the Day Catalan, Closed (E01) 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.g2 Dec-02-11    Penguincw: Opening of the Day Catalan, Closed 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.g2 click for larger view Yah. Openings are being recycled all right.

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