Catalan Opening: Closed (8… Nbd7 9. Bf4)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Rd1 Nbd7 9. Bf4
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 c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Rd1 Nbd7 9. Bf4. 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: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 9… Ba6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Ne5 Rc8 12. Nc6)
- ECO
- E08
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/p2nbppp/1pp1pn2/3p4/2PP1B2/5NP1/PPQ1PPBP/RN1R2K1 b - - 3 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Rd1 Nbd7 9. Bf4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 50%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Denis Makhnev (2478) – WFM Xeniya Balabayeva (1974) 1-0 · Almaty Open 2019 · 2019-10-09
- Royce Zhang (2112) – GM Bogdan Lalic (2297) 1/2-1/2 · 13th Prague Summer Open · 2026-08-10
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Closed and its sub-variations
Comes from
Catalan Opening: Closed (4… Be7 5. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. 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.