Catalan Opening: Open Defense (5. Bg2 dxc4)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4
The Catalan Opening: Open Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E04, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4. It is a line of the Catalan Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 28 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6. O-O (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Be7 8. e3 O-O)
- ECO
- E04
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/2p1pn2/8/2pP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| 2000+ | 16 | |
| All | 28 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. O-O | 16 (57%) | |
| 6. Ne5 | 7 (25%) | |
| 6. a4 | 4 (14%) | |
| 6. Qc2 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
42 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 24%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Grigoriy Oparin (2681) – GM Alexey Sarana (2666) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2664) – GM Alexey Sarana (2666) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-30
- GM Zdenko Kozul (2495) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2684) 1-0 · European Rapid 2025 · 2025-11-28
- IM Alisher Suleymenov (2499) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2589) 1/2-1/2 · Astana Zhuldyzdary Open A · 2023-07-13
- IM Hampus Sorensen (2479) – GM Adam Kozak (2578) 0-1 · 24th European Teams · 2023-11-19
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Open Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Zentheon (2510) – Eliasbaruc (2371) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- TheNonexistent (2293) – ghonaime (2411) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- banaccomg (2245) – DragonbornER (2391) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. 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, 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
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.