Anyone Play the Catalan?

Just curious. I've been looking at 1. d4 openings here and there and know nothing about the Catalan...

Probably not. Though there have been a couple of books out recently. It doesn't look really easy to pick up as White. It has a certain popularity at the highest levels of chess, but if Black just plays an early c5, doesn't the whole thing just transpose into the Tarrasch QGD?

And?

If it transposes to the Tarrasch, the mainlines where white is having no trouble proving an advantage in the opening feature the kingside fianchetto anyway, so this plays nicely into white's repertoire, right?

I am actually starting to study it right now using 1. d4 Volume One.  I only play 1. d4 as white and I'm looking for something different.  There is a lot to know but I think as long as you are not playing 2000+ you should be fine without knowing all the lines and ideas behind the opening.  I think that the main thing with openings is getting comfortable with the positions that arise in games.  

Check out GM Victor Bologan's ChessBase DVD and book. I'm planning to get Avrukh's vol 1 and vol 2 after I'm done with Bologan's book.

Being a Catalan player myself, I have looked at Avrukh's first book, but I prefer the lines used in Wojo's Weapons (Volume 1).

Also, I arrive there via 1.Nf3 instead of 1.d4 to avoid Benoni lines.  I'll play a Symmetrical English instead.

I can get to it via 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3, 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4, 1.Nf3 e6 2.c4 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.g3, etc.

From a purely theoretical point of view, I think one could argue that the Catalan gives White better chances of a slight enduring edge than he would get by allowing the Nimzo. Isn't the Nimzo the main reason the Catalan is so popular at high levels these days? I would be surprised if top GM's were playing it to avoid the QGD, seeing as the exchange variation with Nge2/f3/e4 is surely better for White (see games of Kasparov, Botvinnik, and others).

To the OP -- I am just starting to incorporate the Catalan into my repertoire now. Some of the themes I have noticed thus far, which White will try to exploit to get a slight edge, include: Black struggling to develop his light-square bishop to a good square; Black's backward c-pawn; the weakened c6 square infront of the c-pawn; more central space -- especially if e4 is played at some point; a central pawn majority in the dxc4 lines; a weakened Black pawn-structure on the Queenside in some dxc4 lines; and a superior light-square bishop. I am sure there are other factors as well which White can try to use to his advantage, but as others have said, the advantage is often very small so White should really make sure he has good technique if he wants to win some of those positions. At least White is not risking much in most lines though...

There are a couple of good resources on the Catalan. From the top of my mind, I can recall:

• "Play the Catalan", by Nigel Davies. Not very extense in terms of theory, but he gives you his own ideas and setups rather than overwhelm you with bunch of lines. Very interesting if you consider starting playing this opening.

• "Roman's Lab #74 - The Dynamic Catalan An Ambitious Opening for White", by Roman Dzindzichashvili and Eugene Perelshteyn. Very good DVD covering many of the main lines in the Catalan, giving you tips and the best moves for White. Also interesting and easy-to-learn DVD if you consider start with the Catalan.

• "Catalan E00-E09", by Mihail Marin. This one is hard to read, unless you are a Catalan enthusiast, and want to go very deep in details since it contains a lot but really a lot of lines and theory. I mean, it is a great CD on the Catalan, but if you are not advanced on the Catalan you might find yourself lost in the plethora of variants that Marin explains.

• I have seen that there is also "The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White!", by Viktor Bologan, but I do not know this one.

I have Bologan's book. It is very good.

Do you mean the book "The Powerful Catalan" (I have this one but not taken a look at it yet) or the ChessBase DVD "The Catalan: A Complete Repertoire For White!"?

Thanks.

I actually have both. I've watched all the clips in the DVD, understood and memorized all of the material in Chapter 1 of the book, and begun working on Chapter 2. I spent 3 mornings and a chunk of my daydreaming time on Chapter 1. :)