Bogo-Catalan

Best wishes for 2012 !

update:
not nr one anymore on ICC; because of the faster
comps of the other guys i'm scoring more draws, and
the rating has gone down a bit. No problem,
the book is still ok, and when i get a faster comp
the rating will go up again, currently i'm not
getting benefits of the Houdini 2 Pro feature Numa
for which a more modern comp is required.

Recently done some research into the Catalan, which
appears quite strong for white. Ofcourse black can
avoid the Catalan by playing Slav or Gruenfeld,
but black can also simply play an anti-Catalan
usually transposing to Bogo-Indian with g3:

d4 Nf6
c4 e6
g3! Bb4!
Bd2
and now after Be7 (or Bxd2 Qxd2) Nf3 we transpose to
Bogo-Indian, the variation which g3. White also can
delay the Nf3 move however, with moves like Nc3 and
Bg2, and then its officialy not (yet) a Bogo-Indian.

So i call it the Bogo-Catalan :)

one of the preferred defenses maybe against
the Catalan ! More explanation/analysis maybe
later. Good luck with your opening play
(e4 for beginners, and d4 for advanced)

jef

PS 4.Nd2 also is possible, but then the pawn on c4 gets lost;
white then gets compensation but probably not enough
to get a structural advantage

NB after a later ..d5 by black we transpose to the
Catalan again, and this variation .. Bb4+ Bd2 Be7
also is mentioned in GM Avrukhs book GM repertoire
part 1, chapter 10. And he calls it one of the
strongest defences against the Catalan indeed..