Most dangerous system by white (Catalan)

Yeah, i know what you mean. The Nimzo is much like the French-ultimately solid but, man you have to have alot of patience & resolve to play because often times, white has the initiative longer gametime.

Well, one advice i could give is, try playing it (Catalan system) from the white-side for abit when going over your lines. You may find yourself discovering new ideas (defensively) you might've missed before always playing from black's perspective.

(either that, heh, or like they say, "if can:t beat'em, join'em!")

8)

I know this line, it is a very sophisticated one. I remember that once this bishop check on b5 then retreat on e7 thing and did not work out quite well for me and somehow abandoned playing it. But may be I have to have a second look at it.

In the games I take seriously I always play the Catalan with white. This is the system with which even if I can't win I have never felt that a comfortable draw was in jeopardy. I can't say the same about the responses to e4 openings, the Sicilian for example. If your opponent understands the Sicilian even a draw requires quite an effort.

That's the idea of the semi-slav or some of the gambit lines for white. The Slav proper has the idea of taking on c4 to relieve tension allowing for Bf5 and complete development.

In this game up to move 12. everything goes according to theory. But according to my book 13. Nbd2 is a terrible move. The correct move is 13. Nc3. In correspondence chess where your opponent has ample time to look at opening books you don't get such chances.

The line black played in game below seems the most reliable at 2700 level at moment

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1721435

Kramnik has also lost to Carlson in same line.

This game seems to be lost to a one move blunder 27. Ke3. Up till that point it looks completely equal. It is still interesting that Andreikin takes the bishop on d2. May be he knows better and this is the way to play it...

The game is annotated in a recent New in chess by the winner. Describes the exchange as unprincipled but reliable. If 5Nxd2 black switches to a d6 and e5 pawn formation, after 5Qxd2 d5 white has to lose tempos moving queen to more effective square. 12Qa3 was a new idea but black thinks only has very slight disadvantage after 12...QxQ 13Na3 too trying to show knight misplaced. 

The Carlson win is here

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1604585

Of course black is not winning any of these games from the opening, but equalise then keep on griding.

Dutch

You have to be very deep into theory or be a very strong player to dare play the Dutch because of the vulnerable kingside. In correspondence chess I have not seen serious players playing this defense against 1. d4. Truly good ones may trick you by playing first e6 and after you go e4 they simply transpose into the French which they know well or even try some Kings Indian structure but never the Dutch.

Just man up and play the KID

Here is a game I have played in the spirit of the Catalan (with a timer of 15m+10s). It starts as a Queens gambit but I don't go for the cheap solution to win back my pawn (either by playing e3 or by immediate queen check on a4 etc.). I rather fianchetto in the Catalan spirit. And it pays off. Not trying to win back the pawn immediately has a psychological effect. Your opponent is confused: may be I should try hang on to my pawn? Or attack the pawn on d4? What do I do? And often this hesitation in and out of itself plays into your hand.

Yeah I know what you feel.The Catalan is the most annoying opening to play against.It is very narrow and the general plans are similar for white so Catalan users amass experience faster than say an e4 player who has to deal with tons of theory and structures.Black is doomed to wiggle out of equality or worse an inferior position.I play d5-e6-c6 ideas and I am prepared to hold on for dear life against dxc4  pawn sacs.

Speaking as someone that plays the Catalan, yes, there is a way to avoid the Catalan.  Play the Slav, Dutch, Benoni, or any g6-system (KID, Grunfeld, Modern, etc)

Can White fianchetto his King's Bishop?  Yes.  Does that make it a Catalan?  NO!  Does it make it any good?  Not Necessarily - Especially if White hasn't played Qc2!

By definition, the difference between a Fianchetto system against the Slav Defense and the Catalan is the location of Black's LSB.  Behind the pawn chain, it's a Catalan.  Outside the pawn chain, it's a Slav.

Examples:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 - Catalan
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 - Catalan
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 e6 5.g3 - Closed Catalan
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 - Slav (whether White plays a subsequent g3 or not)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 - This is just flat out bad as Black can play Bf5, stopping the Qc2 manouver, which is necessary if you want to fianchetto against the Slav.

The modern open variation in post 23 doesn't scare me one bit.  7.Ne5 has made a major revival in recent years.  Even in major databases like newinchess.com's database, White's scoring way above average in the Catalan.  A typical average score for White is about 54 to 55 percent.  Check out these numbers:

Catalan - 59.8% across 21657 games

7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6!! bxc6 - 60.1% across 183 games
7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Nxc6?! bxc6 (The old line) - 52.3% across 302 games

For those of you that don't want to play 7.Ne5 and would rather play 7.Qc2, very few lines dip below 56%, and none of the ones with 8.a4, which in the past before I played 7.Ne5, I personally thought was stronger than 8.Qxc4.

The Catalan is stronger than ever, and not an easy route to full equality for Black by any stretch of the imagination!

5 ways to avoid the Catalan:

1) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5
2) 1.d4 c5 2.g3 cxd4
3)1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6

4)1.d4 f5

5)1.d4 g6

7.Ne5 c5 - Dull?  Possibly.  I've had many games there were a bit on the dull side, but they were all with basically two possible results.  White wins or draw!

And many "dull" positions are just crushing!  I had a game (over the board) about a month ago that was from the 7.Ne5 c5 line.  I took on c5, and he decided to trade queens.  By far the "dullest" response from Black, but also by far an inferior one too!  White rolls in the center, threatening to trap Black's Bishop, enticing a g6 push.  Then, instead of trading Knight for Bishop, with a pawn on f5 and Black's bishop on e6, I push f6 to hold on to my own knight on e7.  Throw in a h4 push, and Black's pawn unable then to ever advance past h5, and you have the Black King permanently locked to the squares h8, h7, and h6.

So with R+N vs R+LSB, Black's King permanently locked on h8, h7, and h6, you have, well, yes, a dull position, but one where White can take he ever so sweet time as even the exchange sac never works for Black as he'll promote the pawn or win the Bishop, bring that King all the way up the board, and just continue to crush black with more and more pressure until his position breaks.

So I won't argue the dull part, but I surely will argue the equal part!  I'll take a long, blown out win that takes an extra 40 moves to execute over some whacko position filled with fireworks where the explosion can wind up getting shoved up either of the King's butts!  I'll go for the slow squeeze if it assures me that Black is the one getting squeezed, and the 7...c5 line of the Catalan ends up doing just that!

What is this 7. Ne5 thing?

The correct move is 7. Qc2, after which black's best play is 7. ... a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2.

Black looks smart to develop the bishop with tempo but its position is in reality very vulnerable. Since by 10. Bd2 white threatens Ba5 black should consider playing 10. ... a5 here instead of the main line.