Transposing from the Queen's Gambit to the Catalan?

I am essentially a 1.d4 player with the white pieces and I have been trying out the Queen's Gambit. Usually in case of QGD I try to develop naturally and enter a favorable endgame. However in some of my recent games, I transposed from the Queen's Gambit to a Catalan-esque opening. This gave me positive results, however I am vexed by the fact that the Catalan is supposed to be one of the most complex opening in theoretical terms and thus a person of my rating should generally avoid it. Should I keep trying the Catalan in my games or stick to the standard Queen's Gambit lines?

Playing the true gambit line isn’t abnormal, even b3 can be further offered for piece activity. Learning to play with the initiative can be fun and rewarding.

To the OP, you can play the Catalan thru 1.Nf3 move order if you want to side step the theory and opening tricks.

Thanks for your comment. I did get a few nearly main line Catalan games and ended up with a poor position in those games . Also it is advised that players of my rating range should not experiment around with complex positions which may arise out of the Catalan or let's say the Nimzo-Indian. Thus I have given up this setup and 1.d4 for a while now. Thanks again.

hmm

adviced by whom...

and complex, not as in what complex actually means, but as in "has a lot of theory"?

really?

so now all mainlines are bad coz of theory which no one will even know, according to your own thinking

I wish I had received this advice earlier on. I did waste quite a lot of time learning the main lines of the openings I played and soon enough I figured out that it was useless since at my rating range, the games deviate from the main line pretty soon and I am left on my own to think my way through in those silly position. I did lose a handful of games due to my weak middlegame/endgame skills and after investing more time in those regions I have seen a steady improvement overall. Coming to the Catalan, I did have games where I was doing fine until I made a single unsound move and my position just crumbled instantly. So if I had some basic ideas of the Catalan then obviously I would have fared better. This is why I am solely focusing on those openings which forces me into developing a good middlegame plan and thus enriching my middlegame skills gradually but surely. Thanks to everyone for their respective comments. Good day.

as a catalan player you must know every little manuver and sideline black has

but its great and offers active play

if you have a strong memory then i recommend playing it

but many people play the closed catalan so you must have a weapon agianst that

queens gambit declined positions are more slow/dry than the catalan and the catalan can really spice the game up and its allways fun to win blacks rook on a8

i had a game like this once

yeah white just remains +0.2 the whole game easily and thats why its played

at top level the catalan has lost its venom and is very drawish compared to when it boomed in the 80s

ive created a gambit line for black that has never been played but looks very venomous

white is +0.6 but its very hard to prove and the few times it has been seen in the intermediate database black wins most the time

@d4iscrazy

I agree as well.

thats because you dont know it well

k then

the caro sucks

the london sucks

we can keep on saying "xx opening sucks" on and on

btw my real opinion is just that those openings are just... another opening you can maybe choose

that was for the joke

Can someone explain to me what the point of the Catalan is? What advantage does it, or should it confer to White?

It's just a queen's gambit where you try to expand on the queenside due to the light-squared bishop pointing that way. There are sharp tactics, but most of the sharp tactics favour white. If black plays carefully then he can be tough to break down and white hard pressed to show any advantage, which is likely what gives the Catalan its reputation.

Thank-you, Uhohspaghettio. I've never found that Catalan Bishop to be much more than a tall pawn stuck as it is behind the knight. Having said that, I enjoy playing a Catalan ( albeit inexpertly, inaccurately and with mixed/limited success) . As you say, it creates a game ( at my humble level of expertise) with tactical opportunities which can be fun and satisfying if they come off. Perhaps in future I'll think about more focus on that queenside expansion.

Thanks, that's helpful

catalan is great, just remember to not focus too much on the theory, studying middlegame and endgame is where we can all improve

the c3-b5 lines are dubious usually because white gets e4-d5 and destorys blacks king whos still in the center