How to learn the Catalan

I want to learn the Catalan. How do I learn it and are there any opening transpositions I need to be wary about?

so if you want to play the catalan as white you have choose which move order to use to get there. to me 1 d4 2 nf3 3 g3 and only later c4 is more convenient than others, but of course that doesn't mean this is the best. depends on what you like and how much time you can put into study.

 

You must know FAR more than the Catalan.  You cannot "only" play the Catalan.  That is like saying you will "only" play the King's Gambit. 1.e4 e6, now what?  Or 1.e4 d5, now what?

 

The Catalan has certain requirements by Black to exist, and others to be any good.

 

For instance, to "exist", Black must play Nf6, e6, and d5.  For it to not be an advantage for Black, the Black light-squared Bishop must be BEHIND the pawn chain.

 

When the Catalan works:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3! d5 4.Bg2 etc.  Note the 3 required moves by Black are made AND his light-squared Bishop is behind the pawn chain.

 

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 (you must wait for 3...Nf6, otherwise see below) Nf6 and now 4.g3 is a Catalan.

 

Cases where the Catalan is bad or avoided!

 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 - Catalan is impossible.  3.g3 leads to the Fianchetto Kings Indian or Fianchetto Grunfeld (Black's choice).  3.Nc3 leads to main lines of both those openings.

 

1.d4 f5 - The Dutch Defense, Catalan is impossible.

 

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 - The Slav Defense.  3.g3 is no good here.  The Bishop is not hemmed in for Black.  He should bring it out to f5 or g4 in this line and White's g3 is dubious at best.  And you have no Catalan.  You simply have an inferior line against the Slav.

 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 - Benoni or Benko, there is no Catalan here.

 

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3, without forcing the N to f6 first and Black can hold the Knight back and play a Dutch with 3...f5.

 

1.d4 g6 - The modern Defense

1.d4 d6 - Can lead to many lines, including the Modern Defense, but no Catalan.

 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 and now

  A) 3...c5 is a Fianchetto Benoni

  B) 3...Bb4+ is a hybrid of the Bogo-Indian and Catalan.

 

 

So yes, you cannot just learn the Catalan.  You have a lot of work on your hands.

That is true but I'm also interested in the Catalan since my teammate has an incredibly fixed repertoire and only plays as black 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 guaranteeing a catalan and I want to annoy him with it since he does badly against it.

I heard that Indian GM Srinath Narayan was releasing a course on the Catalan also covering the fianchetto systems against KID and Grunfeld, and other methods to play against the dutch and slav. 

I mean the Catalan as a system opening like the London system( but the London is too boring)

 

Impossible!  It cannot be used as a system.

 

You have a completely different opening when Black plays the Kings Indian, Grunfeld, or Dutch.

 

You have an outright bad position against the Slav and Modern Defense, along with odd defenses like the Polish Defense (1.d4 b5).

 

You cannot just take one opening and assume you can play it ignoring Black's moves and think the same ideas apply.  They don't!

 

Even the London System is not usable against everything.  Black is slightly better if he plays the Modern Defense.  If Black plays 1...g6, then 2.Bf4 is a bad move!  Even the London guru Lakdawala would acknowledge that because he has in his London book!

The Powerful Catalan by Bologan, a very pleasant read and all you ever need on this opening.   

 

Yes, it is a great book, and all you ever need on specifically the Catalan!  He thinks it can be used as a catch-all system, which it can't.  The Catalan is not the same as the Fianchetto Kings Indian or Dutch, and these Fianchetto systems in general are not good against the Slav or Modern.

 

It does not solve his problem.  Only way to solve it is for him to simply accept the harsh reality that what he is looking for and expects (see post 6) is impossible!

I'll try theory then

just tell me what to learn for d4

catalan +fianchetto KID, grunfeld, dutch + slow slav basically avrukh you can search for general ideas on youtube dont go 20 moves of theory.

I mean openings for white not black

that's white black plays the KID white chooses the fianchetto variation

Playing d4 c4 g3 setups is fine. ThrillerFan made a nice post giving a lot of info, but you're rated 1300, not 2300, so a complete repertoire isn't going to help your results much, and will mostly be a waste of time.

... but if you want to waste that time, then go ahead and purchase repertoire building material like a few books or chessable courses, or whatever.

But I'd say just go ahead and play c4 d4 g3 openings, and after every game use a database to look up who left "book" first and what the normal moves are. Over time you'll learn what you need to learn. You can worry about a stellar repertoire later when your opponents know more.

na i'm not gonna waste my time

I mean the catalan-like set up can be used against practically anything so. The main way to play against many dutch lines is to fianchetto the kings bishop and have d4 c4 on the board. You can play the same sort of set up vs the kings indian, hard if you don’t play e4. You can use it against the benoni altho certainly better lines vs the old benoni. You can’t play a pure “catalan” but for the most part you can use the set up and use chess principles and you should be fine. It might not be the best line against everything. You won’t be able to play it like a pure “system” either. You can’t always play the same moves and expect to be fine for you in 10 moves