Catalan Opening: Open Defense (5… Nbd7 6. Qxc4)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4
The Catalan Opening: Open Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E03, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4. 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 7 times by this move order. White won 0%, 14% were drawn and Black won 86%. The most popular continuation is 6… a6 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.08 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 6… a6 7. Be3 b5 8. Qd3 Rb8 9. Nf3)
- ECO
- E03
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppn1ppp/4pn2/8/2QP4/6P1/PP2PPBP/RNB1K1NR b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 7 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… a6 | 4 (57%) | |
| 6… Nb6 | 2 (29%) | |
| 6… c6 | 1 (14%) |
Master games
156 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 39%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- GM Liren Ding (2805) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) 1/2-1/2 · 7th Sinquefield Cup TB · 2019-08-29
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2827) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2771) 1-0 · 43rd Olympiad 2018 · 2018-09-27
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) 1/2-1/2 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-09
- GM So, W. (2780) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2737) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 3m+1spm 2018 · 2018-11-30
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2724) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2738) 0-1 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-14
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Open Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chess1Love0 (2783) – Meatloaf927 (2712) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- grigoli2008 (2390) – urbas (2437) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- PieeceMotion (2399) – Aleks_Shevchenko (2421) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Catalan Opening: Open Defense (4. Bg2 dxc4) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4
Continuations
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Alekhine Variation E03 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Qc2
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… 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
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line (6. O-O dxc4) E05
- Catalan Opening: Closed (4… Be7 5. Nf3) E06
- Catalan Opening: Closed (6. O-O c6) E06
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.