page 1 of 12; games 1-25 of 278  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. T Regedzinski vs M Brody 1-0 19 1928 Olympiad E01 Catalan, Closed 2. Flohr vs G A Thomas 1-0 28 1937 Hastings (England) E01 Catalan, Closed 3. Reshevsky vs A Thomas   1-0 53 1937 Hastings E01 Catalan, Closed 4. Menchik vs P Frydman 0-1 63 1938 Lodz E01 Catalan, Closed 5. Alekhine vs Trompowsky   1-0 38 1938 Montevideo (13) E01 Catalan, Closed 6. Golombek vs E G Sergeant 1-0 34 1938 Hastings E01 Catalan, Closed 7. Golombek vs G A Thomas   ½-½ 23 1938 Hastings E01 Catalan, Closed 8. Flohr vs G Wheatcroft 1-0 25 1939 Margate E01 Catalan, Closed 9. G Abrahams vs E Klein   0-1 47 1939 Bournemouth E01 Catalan, Closed 10. Flohr vs E Klein   ½-½ 53 1939 Bournemouth E01 Catalan, Closed 11. A Thomas vs Aitken 1-0 64 1939 Bournemouth E01 Catalan, Closed 12. V Petrov vs Trompowsky   1-0 29 1939 Buenos Aires ol (Men) f-A E01 Catalan, Closed 13. Capablanca vs Trompowsky 1-0 36 1939 Buenos Aires ol (Men) f-A E01 Catalan, Closed 14. I A Horowitz vs C Jaffe   1-0 56 1939 USA Ch E01 Catalan, Closed 15. I Pogrebissky vs M Stolberg   0-1 50 1940 URS-sf E01 Catalan, Closed 16. Flohr vs V Makogonov 0-1 45 1942 Baku m E01 Catalan, Closed 17. Ragozin vs Bondarevsky   0-1 63 1945 Ch URS E01 Catalan, Closed 18. Alatortsev vs Verlinsky   1-0 27 1945 URS-sf E01 Catalan, Closed 19. Bondarevsky vs G Goldberg   ½-½ 57 1945 URS-ch14 E01 Catalan, Closed 20. Smyslov vs F Zita 1-0 33 1946 Prag E01 Catalan, Closed 21. A Maccioni vs L Bauza   0-1 46 1946 Mar del Plata ARG E01 Catalan, Closed 22. S Gawlikowski vs Sliwa   ½-½ 32 1946 POL-ch E01 Catalan, Closed 23. S Gawlikowski vs K Makarczyk   ½-½ 31 1946 POL-ch E01 Catalan, Closed 24. G Abrahams vs G A Thomas   0-1 42 1946 London-B E01 Catalan, Closed 25. G Fuster vs Szabo   1-0 24 1947 HUN E01 Catalan, Closed  page 1 of 12; games 1-25 of 278    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.

NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other users. Nothing in violation of United States law. See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific opening and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.