Catalan Opening: Open Defense (4… dxc4 5. Nf3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3
The Catalan Opening: Open Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E04, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3. It is a line of the Catalan Opening. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 148 times by this move order. White won 45%, 2% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nc6 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 5… Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc1 b6 8. O-O)
- ECO
- E04
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/8/2pP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 32 | |
| 2000+ | 115 | |
| All | 148 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nc6 | 41 (28%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 28 (19%) | |
| 5… c5 | 26 (18%) | |
| 5… a6 | 16 (11%) | |
| 5… c6 | 12 (8%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 8 (5%) | |
| 5… Bd7 | 7 (5%) | |
| 5… Be7 Open Defense, Classical Line (5. Nf3 Be7) | 7 (5%) |
Master games
1,858 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 29%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-24
- LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-23
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2856) 1-0 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-30
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2782) 1/2-1/2 · 9th London Classic 2017 · 2017-12-04
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2828) – GM So, W. (2762) 1/2-1/2 · 63rd ch-USA 2019 · 2019-03-28
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Open Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM J_Oneee (2731) – GM jncool68 (2657) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- F1nal_Masquerade (2781) – empti_1 (2557) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM Enialios (2666) – malaida-annamalai (2577) 1/2-1/2 · 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, Classical Line (5. Nf3 Be7) E05 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Be7
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Modern Sharp Variation E04 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+
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 (5… Nbd7 6. Qxc4) E03
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Alekhine Variation E03
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense (5. Bg2 dxc4) E04
- 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
- Catalan Opening: Closed (8. Bf4 b6) 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.