Srynath Narayanan - Chessable: lifetime repertoire: the catalan

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[White Introduction & Quickstarter Guide]

[Black Introduction]

[Result *]

1. d4

{ Welcome to my Lifetime Repertoire on the Catalan! This is Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan. About me: Since 2016 I am the coach of Nihal Sarin and I am also working with a few other Indian prodigies. I play a bit for myself also. I won the World Under 12 Championship in 2005, ahead of super-talents like Wesley So. I also won the Asian Juniors three times from 2012-14. But I stopped playing much since 2019 when I started accompanying Nihal full-time. Prior to that, I worked as GM Vidit Gujrathis second for a few years. The repertoire can be divided into four parts: 1. The main Catalan lines starting from @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1@@EndFEN@@ 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 2. The lines after @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1@@EndFEN@@ 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 3. The lines after @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1@@EndFEN@@ 1.d4 d5 2.c4 and now, 2dxc4 , 2c6 and 2e6 3.Nf3 . The QGA, Slav, QGD and the related sidelines. 4. All the other sidelines. I remember reading a poem by Robert Frost called The Road not taken during my primary school. It has stayed with me through the times and my philosophy for this repertoire has been similar. As much as possible, I have tried to take fresh approaches, going off the beaten track, taking our opponents out of their familiar paths, and going deep from there. This is a tried and tested successful strategy for preparation in practical tournaments, and I hope it works for the repertoire as well . About the Lifetime Repertoire and how it should be used: It was quite a challenge for me to work on a Lifetime Repertoire for White in todays times when Stockfish goes about brutally equalizing all the lines, earlier with brute force and now with the NNUE. Like all the LTR authors, I have taken the responsibility of developing a lifetime repertoire with utmost seriousness. However, I should add a few disclaimers. Time has always been a relative concept. A lifetime in todays context probably lasts for a shorter time than it did a few years, and a few decades ago. Nevertheless, even if the lines themselves might not stand the test of time, and may need to be updated in the coming years, I believe I have endeavoured to build the repertoire in such a way that the strategic concepts stay constant and true for longer periods and sets a strong foundation for those who are picking up 1.d4 and the Catalan for the first time. And for those who already play the Catalan, are well-versed with it and intend to use this repertoire as a reference manual, I have tried as much as possible to deviate from the well known, theoretically exhausted variations and have tried to find fresher avenues where White can be a bit deeper. The scope of a repertoire is of course always limited. The concrete lines would of course be useful for the next few months/couple of years, but itll start requiring changes/upgradation soon enough. But there are aspects in a Lifetime Repertoire apart from the lines itself, which last much longer. I would recommend for club players to focus on the strategic ideas and patterns frequently discussed and highlighted. For the stronger players, I would advise them to explore on their own as much as possible. But one universal advice for players of any level who are just picking up this line - do play a lot of games, get a lot of practice, and try to develop an intuitive feel. People at the elite dont necessarily remember all the different concrete variations exactly, and the variations themselves can change at a decent pace of rate of change, but the strategic concepts and intuitive feel imbibed stand for a much much longer time. The typical strategic motifs seen in the different variations contribute towards that, and a lot of practice games in the newly learned variations helps cement that knowledge faster! This has been the training philosophy I am using with Nihal and it has been working well with a few others, including my own practical experience. So welcome, and good luck learning and more important, enjoy the course! Srinath Narayanan, March 2021 }

1 Nf6

{ 1d5 2.c4 The Queens Gambit! 2c6 The Slav is one of the super solid variations that also stood the test of time. It took me a while to decide what to do against this variation. 2e6 The Queens Gambit Declined! 3.Nf3 One of the main positions of the QGD. Black is likely to go 3Nf6 , after which we intend to go 4.g3 , transposing into the Catalan setups, albeit with a minor difference. Black can also play other moves, like @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/2PP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3@@EndFEN@@ 3c6 , 3dxc4 , 3a6 and 3c5 . @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/2PP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3@@EndFEN@@ 3Nf6 4.g3 goes into the Catalan, although with the Knight on f3 instead of the Bishop on g2. The difference is minor and subtle. @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1@@EndFEN@@ 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 The Queens Gambit Accepted! 3.Nf3 signals the intention to go into variations with e3, as opposed to e4, except that White avoids the lines with 3.e3 e5 . In return White has to look at a couple of other lines here. In general, its challenging for anyone to work on a QGA repertoire, but I have managed to work out some very interesting, new tries here. @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/2pP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3@@EndFEN@@ 3Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O The mainline Queens Gambit Accepted and one of the most solid responses with Black. Black can either go 6Nc6 or 6a6 which is the most solid move and the mainline. I have offered new, interesting suggestions in both directions here. @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/2PP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3@@EndFEN@@ 3Nf6 4.g3 In the spirit of the Catalan. This is definitely not the most ambitious approach vs the Slav. 4. e3 would be the critical line as 4.g3 has a more innocuous reputation. But the variation itself has more to it than it appears at first sight. I showed this line to Nihal a few months ago, and he immediately took to it and started scoring wins in the online blitz games. The computers objectively show a 0.00 evaluation in these positions, but practically White has about 60% score in games involving players above 2500. Without any rating filters, the percentage is even higher. }

2. c4 e6

{ 2g6 of course, the Kings Indian Defence. One of the all-time favourites across all levels. 3.g3 the fianchetto is possibly one of the irritating systems to face for Kings Indian players, taking the game to solid waters, and denying Black the initiative on the Kingside that Black players typically look forward to. This setup also conforms to the Catalan repertoire. Here 3c6 is the most solid way to respond and arguably the best move. Apart from this, Black can either go towards Kings Indian setups with 3d6 , or the Grunfeld setups with 3d5 . }

3. g3

{ This is the theme of this repertoire and this is our starting position. 3d5 is the main move here, but Black can also play 3c5 and 3Bb4+ , which are the main options. The move 3.g3 is also part of the theme of the Catalan opening. After 3.g3 , White goes Bg2, which is also known as the Catalan-Bishop. This Bishop is actually quite potent, similar to the Dragon-Bishop in the Sicilian Defence. }

3 d5 4. Bg2

{ The starting point. There is a mild difference between 4.Bg2 and 4.Nf3 . The variation after 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.Bg2 b5 allows Black one additional option. But nevertheless, it is important and useful to be familiar with the position after both these moves as White. The position with 4.Nf3 arises in any case after @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1@@EndFEN@@ 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 . Black has about four major branches here. 1. The Classical Mainline Catalan 2. The Open Catalan 3. Lines with 4Bb4+ 4. The Closed Catalan with 6c6. }