Catalan Opening: Closed (6. O-O Nbd7)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7
The Catalan Opening: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO E07, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7. It is a line of the Catalan Opening. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16 times by this move order. White won 63%, -1% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qc2 (63% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7. Qc2 a5 8. b3 b6 9. Nc3 Bb7)
- ECO
- E07
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppnbppp/4pn2/3p4/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 6 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 16 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qc2 Closed (6… Nbd7 7. Qc2) | 10 (63%) | |
| 7. Nc3 | 4 (25%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 1 (6%) | |
| 7. b3 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
60 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 22%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Maxim Rodshtein (2698) – GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2642) 1/2-1/2 · 18th ch-EUR Indiv 2017 · 2017-06-08
- GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2550) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2699) 1-0 · Titled Tue 24th May Late · 2022-05-24
- GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2575) – GM Valentina Gunina (2509) 1-0 · Monaco WGP 2019 · 2019-12-11
- GM Denes Boros (2442) – GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez (2642) 1/2-1/2 · Bay Area Int Open 2019 · 2019-01-03
- GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2535) – IM V S Rathanvel (2483) 1/2-1/2 · 28th OIBM 2025 · 2025-11-05
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Closed and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM enmQ (2806) – Towser1 (2698) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- CM SouthAfricanWolf (2581) – Towser1 (2686) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Tomberg_Dmitry (2421) – FM IGet_Stronger (2607) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Catalan Opening: Closed (4… Be7 5. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3
Continuations
- Catalan Opening: Closed (6… Nbd7 7. Qc2) E08 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2
- Catalan Opening: Closed, Botvinnik Variation E07 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 c6 8. Qd3
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.