The Catalan: 20 Ideas You Must Know | Opening Masterclass

[@benhavey4107]

I've played the Catalan for a decade and this is the best guide I've ever seen! This should be required watching before studying Catalan lines.

[@SamAsakaChess]

Hey Ben, that's awesome to hear.

[@kylemontaque7947]

10 years is impressive. Im glad your also still responding to comments @@SamAsakaChess

[@gusleffers9265]

This is really well done. In general there is very little ‘idea’ instruction for most openings like this, so to have the pawn structures and typical ideas explained so well is an incredible resource.

[@EntropicalNature]

Way to saturated with chess channels, so I have to admit: I really didn't want to watch this video, but hey let's give the algorithm a try! I'm 12:48 in and I'm already subbed and commenting right now. Finally someone who is capable of communicating with a proper high level of information density. I've seem to struck a gem here. Hats off to you sir! Already looking forward finishing all of your videos!

[@fazzolarijames]

I’m learning the closed Catalan for Black so this video was extremely insightful. Thank you 🙏

[@SamAsakaChess]

Awesome to hear!

[@jacklc5575]

This series is really excellent - thank you for putting this work in!

[@SamAsakaChess]

Thanks Jack, glad you like it.

[@christopherday6447]

This video is insanely good.

[@SamAsakaChess]

Thanks Christopher.

[@yesyoeable]

Just got myself into the Catalan and this is absolutely great to build upon. Thanks!

[@SamAsakaChess]

Awesome. Glad to hear that!

[@thegreatsuraj1622]

what a legendary video, please make a video on Sicilian Defence variations.

[@SamAsakaChess]

Cheers, I have one on the Nadjorf - but more to come.

[@normalvolume]

Very thorough, succinct and rapid explanations; much appreciated

[@Gavinisthebes]

Thank you so much man this is by far the best video I’ve seen on Catalan ideas I can finally play it and not be terrified💪

[@SamAsakaChess]

Great to hear that. Best of luck with the Catalan!

[@emirtongu]

you're the best guider of catalan i have ever seen. subscribed👊

[@t-rex3372]

Please make a video how to gain initiative when black takes the pawn and plays well for not so good players

[@renobgm]

Please never stop this series.

[@SamAsakaChess]

Plenty more to come!

[@justinkeefe3456]

Fantastic video brother! Very well spoken, and with a pace that clicked with my brain. Thanks alot

[@australopigreco4225]

Yesterday i lost a game where i played black in a catalan closed line. White played in the exact fashion you showed and i got wrecked. So today i saw your video, a great one! cheers Sam

[@Steveross2851]

One caveat for lichess blitz players rated 1600 - 2000, this is not as "easy" as it looks and I would suggest practicing first with lots of blitz games against a weak lichess Stockfish level like Stockfish 3 or Stockfish 4 depending on your strength. Those Stockfish engines blunder a lot thus giving you a lot of practice crushing it with your opening ideas sure, but even those weak Stockfish levels can still sometimes be tricky enough to beat you if you're not careful. Once you're confident you can crush those Stockfish levels consistently in blitz then you'll be ready to use the Catalan effectively at the lichess 1600 - 2000 blitz level.

[@roytwinberrow7956]

Great content as always. Many thanks.

[@erikolsson5567]

Great video! What about the Slav setup? I find it challenging to meet. Maybe not play the Catalan when one gets c6 on the board?

[@SamAsakaChess]

Yeah, I only really would call it a Catalan when Black plays an early ...e6, not allowing them to get their LSB out. I personally play the Slow Slav with 3.Nf3 and 4.e3, and score very well with that. You could still play the Fianchetto variation against the Slav (and there are several strong players who do), but I've never been a huge fan.

[@f3dor0vsergey]

very nice video, thank you

[@sayafkhan748]

Great video dude! Summed it up really precisely! 😊

[@SamAsakaChess]

Cheers, appreciate it. Glad you found it useful!

[@jasonbraun3149]

As someone who picked up the Catalan last year, this is really valuable information. Now I can see the differences between, for example, black playing Be7 or Bd6 in a Semi-Slav setup. The c5 idea also came in handy a few months ago. Otherwise, I'm thinking I can't create this nice outpost on d5 for black's knight! Question...In Part 4, how do you handle black taking on c4 after Bg2, Nbd7, O-O, dxc4? These lines look pretty messy in my database, which is why I always play Qc2 after black plays c6.

[@SamAsakaChess]

Thanks Jason, glad to hear that! With regards to your quesion, if we say had the following moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 Nbd7 6. O-O, and now ...dxc4 I have to admit this specifically is not something I know super well off the top of my head, but looking at the DB quickly, a fairly logical continuation seems to be: 7. a4 a5 8. Qc2 b5 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nd5 11. axb5 cxb5 12. Nc3 Qb6 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. Bxd5 when White does well in practice, and to my eyes seems to have a slightly easier game. We could probably even extend the line a bit more, given they all go down a pretty similar path: 15.Qe4! Bc5 16.Bc6+ (one of the main ideas behind Qe4, I presume) ...Bd7 17.Bxd7+ Rxd7 and here White seems to have a pleasant choice between 18.Qa8+ and 18.Qg4 (to which Black's best defense seems to be the counter-intuitive ...Rf8!N, not directly defending g7 - even Erwin L'ami, a pretty strong theoretician lost his way here).

[@jasonbraun3149]

@@SamAsakaChess Thanks for that reply. I’ll have to look at that in more detail. I’ve been playing over 50 years and now I’m trying to learn the Catalan!

[@base924]

Great! 👏

[@sameerkanth3804]

(16) Now it makes a lot of sense why Kramnik's old games follow the English setup line to enter the Catalan. This was an excellent video which builds upon further on the basics of the Catalan. (17) I follow this move order and also don't like playing against the Bf5 lines in Catalan. That Bishop can be very annoying if they can get an open C-file and if my rook is already developed to d1. I always wonder whether the Queen's Gambit is more venomous compared to the Catalan because when I follow this move order the engine keeps recommending me to go c4 ASAP. What is your opinion on QG vs Catalan ?

[@SamAsakaChess]

Yeah, you usually want to challenge the center in some way, so delaying c4 doesn't really make much sense. If you're keen on continuing this approach, I recommend the repertoire book 'Keep It Simple 1.d4' (I reviewed it on this channel). As for the QG vs Catalan question - I consider the Catalan a subvariation of the QG, so I'm not too sure how to really answer that question. If you mean the 1.d4 2.Nf3 3.g3 move order - where you delay c4, then I would say I prefer the 1.d4 2.c4 move order.

[@sameerkanth3804]

@@SamAsakaChess Thanks !! That makes sense. I will check out that book.

[@pax1913]

I was born in Barcelona, so I guess I have to learn this as a *Catalan* player

[@rush0312]

Any good book reqs for the Catalan?

[@SamAsakaChess]

Depends on your level. Many of the ones I read were when I was a bit younger, and kinda outdated from a theoretical POV. If you want a book that focuses on the strategic side of the opening, though (especially the closed catalan) - I would recommend taking a look at Wojo's Weapons (Vol 1 I think).

[@matrioskarlo]

Hi Sam, i’ve watched almost all your catalan opening videos and i really like the fact that you aren’t particularly a fan of giving the c pawn in a gambit style against your opponents, a thing that many catalan players do. How did you learn this playstyle? Do you know any chess books for starting to play this opening in that way?

[@TemiBabalola]

Yoiu are brilliant!

[@Jack-qp9ky]

I played a side line (with the black pieces) to throw off my opponent yesterday with an early h6. D4 nf6, c4 e6, g3 d5, bg2 h6, nf3 bd6, 0-0 0-0.

[@SamAsakaChess]

Yeah I've looked into that one before, actually quite interesting

[@Ghotu664]

Wow what a video❤❤❤

[@ChanLiu-c5k]

Great video Sam! Just wondering, why do you hate the London so much? I laugh at all your digs at the London, but honestly, I only see people hating openings they had bad results with or against

[@SamAsakaChess]

I'm honestly pretty neutral towards it, I just like making fun of it. I would say if I do have an issue with it, it's with people playing the London on 'autopilot' playing the same moves regardless of what setup Black plays.

[@kaarlo4823]

I dont play the Catalan but nice video!

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[@shortspecimen]

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[@royalsolo]

anybody else think about Monthy Python rn?

[@Kornbreadkyle]

lol just need to know your reason to see if we’re on the c same page

[@royalsolo]

@@Kornbreadkyle kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqfYiGmqhpVlZ5o

[@burhananak605]

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