Main Line Open Catalan with 5...a6

There are 9 theoretical variations black could choose from in the Open Catalan. a6 is the main line, the best, and trickiest option black could play. He will often manage to keep his extra pawn until very late in the middlegame which could put white on the back foot.

Whole Catalan Opening playlist:    • Introduction to the Catalan  

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The Catalan is a powerful weapon for white to add to his repertoire. It's versatile, and can lead to many different types of positions, and yet it's fairly simple to learn the plans and ideas in it since you always develop your pieces to the same squares and have similar plans against almost everything black does.

The Catalan can be divided into closed and open variations, Open Catalan being the ones in which black captures your c4 pawn which you've offered as a gambit. Once that capture is played, the open Catalan starts.

The main position of the open Catalan, where black gets to choose between 9 (!) different theoretical continuations occurs after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 (different move orders are possible, but the position is the same). Here black chooses between b5, Nc6, c5, c6, Nbd7, Be7, Bd7, Bb4+, and a6, which we are covering in this video.

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