Catalan Opening: Closed
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3
What Is The Closed?
The Closed Catalan is Black's refusal to give the Catalan bishop what it wants. Instead of capturing on c4, Black plays ...Be7, castles, and keeps the pawn on d5, walling off the long diagonal. White responds with Qc2, b3, Bb2 and Rd1, building toward the e4 break that rips the wall down. Everything hinges on the long diagonal: when e4 lands and the center opens, the g2 bishop decides the game.
Black's problem piece is the c8 bishop. The standard cure is ...c6 and ...b6, developing it to b7 or a6, then striking with ...c5 at the right moment. Break too soon and White's pieces flood the c-file; wait too long and you suffocate. As White, keep the queenside pressure on and make Black prove that bishop earns its keep.
The Named Lines Of The Closed
| Line | Moves |
|---|---|
| Botvinnik Variation | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Nc3 c6 8.Qd3 |
| Main Line | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.Bf4 b6 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 |
| Zagoryansky Variation | 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.Rd1 b6 9.a4 |
| Spassky Gambit | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Be7 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.b3 b6 9.Rd1 Bb7 10.Nc3 b5 |
| Sokolsky Variation | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.Nbd2 b6 9.b3 a5 10.Bb2 Ba6 |