Catalan Opening: Where Should I Start?

Simaginfan......!!!!

Wojo was a character in an old sitcom called Barney Miller.  He was a detective or policeman, and his weapon was not the Catalan.

I remember Barney Miller too. Old age is creeping into this thread.

Kamala - hope you are having the best time.

novacek - sorry for the intrusion! I promise to behave in future. I see that there is a suggestion re. move order - Barcza would be a useful study on that score - there is a reason for the term 'barcza - catalan. Cheers mate. Speak soon.

This is a good start....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_Opening

Kramnik defeats Morozevich using the Catalan.....

 http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1472877

And last, for now, Anand defeats Topalov with a Catalan in game 4 of their 2010 World Championship Match...

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1581335

See you all....best of luck!

Speak soon guys. 👍. Btw, it really is good to have you back, mate. I have missed you!

Did you read the link given?

Once more: http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Wojos-Weapons-1-p3777.htm

Bologan is too dry or too much resp. not my mug of beer. Some variations are simply missing. 

It's like always: you have to create your repertoire with various sources. For example, I play in the main line the tricky 9.Na3 when ...Bxa3 is mandatory but not very promising for Black. Nigel Davies at least covers it in his book, others like Wojo or Bologan don't mention it.

I would simply play and look up the lines - you won't read any of the tomes completely I guess. 

By the way, inspired by So-Nakamura, 2016 9.Na3! a rapid game of mine against Elo 2100:

(Sorry, it doesn't work: 1. Sf3 Sf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Le7 5. Lg2O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Se5 Sc6 8. Sxc6 bxc69. Sa3 Tb8 10. Sxc4 Lb7 11. Sa5 Sd5 12. Da4c5 13. Sxb7 Txb7 14. dxc5 Lxc5 15. Dc6Lxf2+ 16. Txf2 Tb6 17. Dc5 Sb4 18. Lg5 f619. Lf4 e5 20. Le3 Kh8 21. Taf1 Te8 22. a3Sa6 23. Dc2 Td6 24. b4 Sb8 25. Lxa7 Sd726. Lc6 Tee6 27. Lxd7 Dxd7 28. a4 Td229. Dc4 Tb2 30. Dc3 Ta2 31. a5 e4 32. Le3Tc6 33. Db3 Tcc2 34. a6 Tcb2 35. Td1 Ta136. Txa1)

"... While there is plenty of prose to enhance and support the understanding of weaker players, the theoretical coverage [in Wojo's Weapons: Winning With White, Volume 1] is by and large too difficult to follow for players rated below 2000. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627101228/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen131.pdf

"... Wojo’s Weapons: Winning With White is recommended for players 2000 on up that are looking for a solid and reliable opening repertoire. ..."

http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Wojos-Weapons-1-76p3777.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf

I think 1,d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3,Nf3 Be7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 c6 is very sollid.

Comparing Bologan and Wojo: it‘s rather Wojo which is meant for weaker players.

I would seek for a „Starting out“ solution, some ideas and a look into the database. Buying and reading a tome isn’t a modern approach to learning a new opening. Just play, look it up in the database. 

Why play this when you can play the improved version? - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Bb4+! 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6

White's bishop is worse placed on d2 than it is on c1.

1,d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3,Nf3 Be7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 c6 is kind of thing  club players like to play for some reason. Then what the OP talks about with the catalan being an easy game for white might be true. 

I am more interested in the black side and 9Na3 BxN in the main-line doesn't look very threatening to me. This is normal, if people agreed on a evaluation of a opening position, everybody would be playing the same thing.

In general think the OP has been misinformed that the Catalan is a straightforward opening. Need good positional and calculation skills to make much progress with it.

The Catalan: Move by Move

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7685.pdf