Setups to learn against the Catalan, Bird and the Kings Indian attack

Hello all,

Those are the 3 openings that i'm the less used to play against and thus the less prepared in case of an OTB match (or online game). I decided to add the 3 in one topic instead of opening a new one for each...

Here are the usual openings move order i like to play:

So against the catalan, if my opponent plays d4 and c4 first (or d4 and Nf3, i'll end up on the Nf6-e6 setup). if he play the KIA with 1.Nf3, I would have responded 1...Nf6.
Against the bird i think of a straightforward option with 1...d5 and potentially 2..c5

Thank you all in advance!
have a nice day

You could go with a Nf6, e6, d5, Be7 and 0-0 setup against the Catalan and 1. Nf3. It's move order proof and safe. Against the Bird a setup with d5 g6 Bg7 Nf6 0-0 c5 is strong and relatively easy to play.

I find that there are three types of Bird players: i) those that want a reversed Dutch (so f4, Nf3, e3, b3 and Bb2), ii) those that want KIA-type position but with the f-pawn advanced (so f4, Nf3, g3, Bg2, 0-0), or iii) those that want to transpose into a Stonewall Attack (f4, e3, d4, Bd3, usually c3).

In all three scenarios, the e5 square is important for White.  He would especially like to get a Knight there.  This isn't winning for White, but it tends to pretty easy to play.  I far prefer set-ups with d6, because it forever controls e5 and stops the ready-made plans.  If you're willing to learn a completely different set-up just for the Bird (which may be a tall ask given how rarely you'll face it...), I've always liked this KID approach:

Indeed. Seems as though you already have a solid set up vs those 3 openings. PSV's suggestions substantiate this. I might add the 1. ... Nf6, 2. ... e6 set up is also good vs the Reti & English as well (of course embedding X. ... d5 at some point; it may transpose into a QID type position but still solid methinks). I'd suggest a line I often use vs the Catalan you could try: 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 (the most common move; but 7. Na3[!?] has been tried. 7. ... Bxa3 8. bxa3 Bd7 9. Ne5 Bc6 10. Nxc6 kind of forced, 10. ... Nxc6 11. Bb2 Nd5[!] 12. Rb1 Nb6 13. e4 Qd7, centralizing, 14. Qd2 Rad8 15. Rfd1 Rfe8 16. Ba1 e5[!] 17. d5 Qd6 and black objectively has an edge; finally, on 7. Ne5 Nc6[!] ends this) 7. ... a6 is the move. On 8. Qxc4; then cool is 8. ... b5[!] 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bf4 Nd5 or 10. Be2 Nc6[!] are solid. More often than not though, white will play 8. a4; 8. ... Bd7 (obviously headed for c6) 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 (10. Nc3 b5[!]) 10. ... a5 nailing down the b4 square for some knight operations, 11. Nc3 Na6* 12. Rac1 h6 13. Rc1 Bb4 14. Be5 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 c6 16. Red1 Qe7 17. Bf4 Nd5= Kramnik-Lautier, Dortmund 1995. Cool. Best wishes 😉

[edit] 13. Rfe1 instead of the typo 13. Rc1✌🏽

Hello,

I have tried it but i found the semi slav intimidating (some heavy theoretical lines)
I havent played the ragozin no,
I switched to the english a few months ago. Before that i played classical 1.d4 and 2.c4. I've never really played 1.e4

thank you the lines make a lot of sense and seems easy to grasp!

In the catalan 6...d5xc4 is the main line but black has a straightforward plan of neutralising Bg2 with a6,b5 and Bb7, or Bd7-c6 depending on white's choice, then looking for the right time to play c5 break. Personally wouldn't worry how booked up an opponent may or may not be. Either way a club player is going to have a tough time getting anywhere against this very solid and straightforward line.

Thanks for the lines, i'll put them in this diagram it's easier to see

If you would replace 3 Nf3 c5 with 3...d5 aiming for the Ragozin, we would have identical repertoires.

Hope anything of that was useful. The pawn on d5 for the Ragozin structure makes the repertoire almost fully move order proof. I always found the Ragozin a great opening to pair with the Nimzo, because it has some sharp lines if you enjoy them (5 Bg5 dxc4 f.e., and some lines with g5 and/or c5 in 5 cxd5, which you don't actually have to play).

There are a lot of playable lines, for example after recently popular 10Bf4, formerly 10Bg5 was more popular, can try 10....Bd6 11Bg5 Nb-d7 12Nc3 h6 13BxN NxB 14Rf-e1 BxN 15BxB c6 with very solid position. Also 14...Qe8 intending b5 in game below looked quite reasonable. So there is a nice range of playable options some more ambitious than others.