Catalan Opening: Closed (8. Bf4 b6)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 b6
The Catalan Opening: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO E06, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 b6. It is a line of the Catalan Opening. White 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: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. b3 Nbd7 11. Qc2 c5)
- ECO
- E06
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/p3bppp/1pp1pn2/3p4/2PP1B2/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RN1Q1RK1 w - - 0 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 b6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 36%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2797) – GM Hao Wang (2726) 1/2-1/2 · 40th Olympiad Open · 2012-08-31
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2672) – GM Gabriel Sargissian (2675) 1/2-1/2 · ch-European Rapid 2013 · 2013-12-14
- GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2716) – GM Murali Karthikeyan (2574) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-05
- GM Sanan Sjugirov (2599) – GM Cem Kaan Gokerkan (2501) 1-0 · Chess.com Open PlayIn2 · 2026-03-18
- GM Joshua Friedel (2506) – GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2593) 0-1 · 42nd World Open 2014 · 2014-07-06
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Closed and its sub-variations
Comes from
Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3
More Catalan Opening lines (all)
- Catalan Opening (2… e6 3. g3) E00
- Catalan Opening (3. g3 d5) E00
- Catalan Opening: Hungarian Gambit E00
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense (3… d5 4. Bg2) E01
- Catalan Opening: Tarrasch Defense E01
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense (4. Bg2 dxc4) E02
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense (5… Nbd7 6. Qxc4) E03
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Alekhine Variation E03
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense (4… dxc4 5. Nf3) E04
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense (5. Bg2 dxc4) E04
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Modern Sharp Variation E04
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line (5. Nf3 Be7) E05
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.