Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line (7… c6 8. Nbd2)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Nbd2
The Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E09, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Nbd2. It is a line of the Catalan Opening. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 8… b6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 8… c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. b4 Nce4 11. a3)
- ECO
- E09
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1nbppp/2p1pn2/3p4/2PP4/5NP1/PPQNPPBP/R1B2RK1 b - - 1 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Nbd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… b6 Closed Variation, Traditional Variation | 1 (50%) | |
| 8… Re8 | 1 (50%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 25%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Alexandre Lesiege (2515) – Ananda Saha (2035) 1-0 · ch-Quebec 2019 · 2019-03-22
- CM Erik Golubovic (2184) – FM Andrii Punin (2289) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 8th Apr Early · 2025-04-08
- IM Haoxiang Jia (2332) – CM Yehor Marynychenko (2128) 0-1 · Titled Tue 14th Oct 2025 · 2025-10-14
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tosbikchess (2169) – yvanleterrible (2093) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- ZUKOV1971 (2038) – jinhodiaz (2047) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3
Continuations
- Catalan Opening: Closed Variation, Traditional Variation E09 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Nbd2 b6
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.