Catalan Opening: Closed (9… Bb7 10. e4)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bf4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. e4

Catalan Opening: Closed after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bf4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. e4 87654321abcdefgh

The Catalan Opening: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO E08, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bf4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. e4. It is a line of the Catalan Opening. Black is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 10… Nh5 11. Be3 Nhf6 12. h4 dxe4 13. Nxe4)

ECO
E08
Moves
19 plies
FEN
r2q1rk1/pb1nbppp/1pp1pn2/3p4/2PPPB2/5NP1/PPQN1PBP/R4RK1 b - - 0 10
PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bf4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. e4

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Comes from

Catalan Opening: Closed (6… Nbd7 7. Qc2) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2

More Catalan Opening lines (all)

Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.