Open Catalan with early 4 d x c4 Flashcards
Black has captured on c4 and now looks to develop the locked in Bishop by Bd7 Bc6 - how should White counter
White has multiple ways to get an objective advantage after 5… Bd7. We play 6. Ne5 because it immediately takes out Black’s light-squared Bishop, which gives White a long-term strategic gain.
Black typically tends to castle long in these positions after 5… Bd7. In such positions, having an unchallenged light-squared Bishop can be very useful as the b7-pawn especially becomes a target with the Black King on c8.
White now has the two bishops but Black is attacking the queen pawn twice - how does play typically develop and what move should White play next?
White should play 0-0. There is no concrete threat to the d pawn yet (Qd4 Bc6 and Nd4 Bb7)
Black can prepare Q side castle with Qd7 to imbalance the position a bit. White will play e3, Qc2 - with ideas on Qb5. Black looks to get e5 in
Going for short castle after Be7 would be too mainstream and White will have an edge thereafter building the position with e3-Qa4-Nbd2.
What are the ideas for White here?
What are the weaknesses? Where should the peices go?
White has a slight edge. However, the plan moving forward isn’t straightforward and depends on how Black plays.
Right now the Rook on d1 is a bit misplaced. Ideally White should have one of the rooks on the open e-file. As such, b4, Ra2 and Re2 is one way to bring the Rook out.
It is also possible for White to open more lines for his Bishop with b4 and b5. It is useful for White to provoke Black to play …cxb5 as it loses control over d5, which is an important strategic square.
White’s intention is to not keep the pawns on a3, b4 and d4 static. That would harm the interests of his dark-squared Bishop. But if White can get the pawns to a4 and b5, then the Bishop can come out with Ba3.
White has to gradually build pressure using the parts of the boards he is controlling, and try to keep increasing the pressure along with this. Black has comparatively limited space.
Black has played c5 - how should White respond? and what are the main moves / plans for Black?
White 0-0 and will look to follow up with dxc5 entering into a slightly favourable endgame
Main lines are:
Nc6 is the main line - (master and lichess) White plays dxc5 entering into an endgame with a plus
a6 - also popular at master level - Black will look to hold b5 pawn
c x d4 - lichess - White recaptures with the queen and enters the endgame
Nbd7 - with ideas of Nb6 - White plays Na3 and if Nb6 then Nc4 and Qa4+
Be7 - White plays Qa4+ and dxc5
In general, …c5 is an important liberating move in any Catalan variation. Black goes for a direct assault against White’s central pawn at d4. If White takes on c5, then it goes into an endgame which Black is happy to enter into. Over the years, White has found many ways to deal against this move.
Black has played has captured the c pawn early and made a break with c5 then followed up with Nc6.
It can be quite important to get this Knight into c6. In other lines we see White get a better endgame because Black isn’t able to develop the Knight to c6, which subsequently impacts Black’s Queenside development further.
How should White respond to Nc6?
White exchanges on c5 - after the ensuing exchanges White plays Nbd2.
White fundamentally has a bit of an edge in this endgame. From a purely statistical point of view, White largely wins or draws here with very few Black wins.
Nbd2 is the starting position of this endgame. In the Catalan, White usually prefers to recapture on c4 with the Knight as it gives the Knight access to squares like e5 and d6.
9…c3 10. bxc3 O-O
It is quite common to give up the pawn this way to try and spoil White’s pawn structure, as the c4 pawn was inevitably falling anyway.If Black had his light-squared Bishop on c6 and the Knight on c8, Black would have a much better position. However, the challenge right now for Black is to successfully develop his c8-Bishop. Aside from this, the weakness of the d6-square looms large. These two factors are White’s main trumps in this endgame.
White plays Nb3 - the idea is quite simple, to get the Knight to d4 and put pressure on b7-c6, which is typical when White has the unchallenged Catalan Bishop on g2.
