How To Be Good In Catalan Opening? What Are Its Strategic Goals? :))

Thoughts?

The Catalan is a combination of the Queen's Gambit and the Reti Opening. In the Catalan, the player playing white avoids the Nimzo-Indian and the Queen's Indian. After the first 3 moves white has a solid position that will bring an advantage later if played correctly. http://bellairechessclub.com/ has a pdf of Modern Chess Openings 14, I suggest you study both the lines of the Open and Closed Catalan if you choose you play the Catalan regularly.

Best Of Luck!

Thanks! :)

It's not the easiest opening for both sides to play. For example, here is a huge amount to learn, here is a book review from Silman to give you an idea:

http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Powerful-Catalan-The-p3720.htm

Black can avoid the Catalan with 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 (or 2. Nf3) c5 which is a Benoni.

Thanks! :)

If I may focus on the Open Catalan, the strategically advantageous feature of the Catalan is pressure on Black's queenside light squares.  The strategic goal of the Catalan is to deal with the disadvantageous features without too much awkwardness.  White needs to mop up the pawn on c4, usually with the queen.  Black will win time by attacking the White queen.

The Catalan requires a significant amount of finesse.  White's pressure is very subtle.  MervynS is right.  It's not the easiest opening for either side to play.

in many lines, white keeps a slight advantage thanks to the pressure on the a8-h1 diagonal. in the open catalan, try to avoid black's c7-c5

This depends on which line of the Open Catalan.  After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, if you take the pawn immediately, there are independent lines.  After 4...dxc4 5.Nf3 (or when I play it, it's via 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2, same position), Black has some independent ideas like 5...Nc6 (fairly popular - and one of Black's best independent lines), 5...Bd7 (not very good), etc etc, and then there's the direct transposition to the main line after 5...Be7 6.O-O O-O which can also be reached via 4...Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O dxc4.

In the case of this "main line", the line with 7.Ne5 has been revitalized!  Once it was discovered that after the best defense for Black, the pawn gambit, 7...Nc6, that White should take on c6 with the Bishop instead of the Knight, 7.Ne5 has had a rebirth, and often times White comes out a pawn up as the lines where Black tries to hold the pawn are inferior.  After 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 (Inferior is 9...Qd6 as it allows 10.Qa4!) 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 and Black's best responses are considered to be 11...e5 or 11...c5 12.Qa3! Qb7! (12...Bb7 is inferior) holding White's advantage to a minimum.

Absolutely, ThrillerFan.  I like that main line as White.  Those tripled pawns on the c-file of Black are delectable.  Just after I decided to play the line, I found coverage of it in Wojo's Weapons.  I even try to use Ne5 thematically in my Catalan repertoire, such as against 5...a6.  

Yeah there are tripled black pawns, but black is supposed to know that they will be lost but then again black is up one pawn, maybe even two. It's what black does in the meantime while white is targetting them that is important. Sometimes those black pawns get in the way of black.

I think it is a good opening to learn from both sides.

http://www.chess.com/video/library?keyword=catalan

seems like there was also a live session with IM Rensch that had a catalan but I couldnt find it

Translation: It's perfect to play against weaker opponents, but don't try it against stronger ones as they by definition have greater chess understanding and could therefore find their way better through the resulting strategic and tactical complexity. 

Just do a standard 2.Nf3 and maybe 3.Bf4 3.c4 or 3.d5 (depending on what black plays, Benoni = 3.d5 2..d5 = 3.c4 and 2...g6 = Bf4 clamping down on e5 with h3 later thrown in to prevent ...Bg4 keeping consistent with the e5 control plan though I only play this because I don't know KID theory very well )

The Benoni is avoidable (or at least the Modern Benoni - Old Benoni lines where White hasn't played c4 is good for White).  In return for avoiding the Benoni, you have to be willing to play a Symmetrical English:

1.Nf3 d5 (1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 is another transposition to the Catalan while 3...c5 is a Symmetrical English, 1...c5 2.c4 is also a symmetrical English) 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 and now:

3...dxc4 4.e3 e6 is a QGA

3...c6 is a Slav

3...e6 4.g3 is a Catalan

Benoni Avoided!

I wouldn't avoid a Benoni personally, the plans for white are too clear:

The lines I wanted to avoid were mainline KIDs.  with 1.d4,Nf6 2.Nf3,g6 3.Bf4.

I'm going to lose against a stronger opponent in any opening anyways, why not play it?

Thanks Everyone! :)

Because you improve your drawing chances if you play positions that close the understanding gap between the two of you.  Let's say you are strong in major piece strategic endings but they have a gap in this knowledge.  Then you play openings that usually result in such.  However, the complications along the way will favor your opponent. 

If an IM faces an FM they may seem to be on par for most of the game, but the FM will eventually come to a position where his understanding isn't as great, play an incorrect move, and the IM wins. 

It is even more pronounced at club level where we have huge gaps in our understanding and skillsets may be unbalanced.  If a class A is horrible at endgames they likely have expert or even master level skills in another area, but if a class C they face has class A level endgame skills and they reach an equal or maybe even slightly inferior for the class C but not drawn endgame the class C will come out on top against the odds. 

Most games at my lower level are lost by tactical blunders, not positional understanding. Plus I'd rather achieve an upset draw/win against a much stronger player because my level of play has improved, rather than me taking advantage of lets say, gaps and weaknesses in my opponents.

:))

It is an immutable law that the weaker you are the faster you improve with equal time and effort.  Let's say you and an expert study appropriate material, he may gain 50 rating points, which is a big improvement for that level, but you gain 500 points in that time.  You closed a big gap between you two in understanding.  The next year you gain 100 points but he gains 20, the gap still is being closed.  This is because the weaker we are in something the bigger impact basic things have on us. 

It is easier for a normal person to lose some weight and shave three minutes off their sprint than it is for an Olympic sprinter to shave 1/10th of a second off his sprint for example.  The Olympian needs a high volume of high intensity workout and specially designed nutrition plan (even a glass of orange juice may be bad for them since while healthy for regular people it still has sugar) to shave off that 1/10th whereas the mortal just needs to cut a lot of sugar out of his diet (counting only candy and cakes) and do a brisk jog every morning. 

The Catalan is a great opening, but you need to suppliment it with a strategic and tactical understanding.  What pawn centers are typical in most variations?  What is the best way to deal with a Ne4 who blunts your Bg2?  Even I screw up a Catalan sometimes:

I won the game but messed up the opening so I had to improvise and sac a pawn to develop.  I know a Bf4 is bad with a kingside fianchetto usually, but thought this was an exception for some reason: