Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Modern Sharp Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+
The Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Modern Sharp Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E04, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+. 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 9 times by this move order. White won 11%, 0% were drawn and Black won 89%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bd2 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 7. Bd2 Nd5 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 9. O-O Rb8)
- ECO
- E04
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2n1pn2/8/QbpP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNB1K2R w KQkq - 4 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 9 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bd2 | 9 (100%) |
Master games
168 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 28%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2744) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2814) 1/2-1/2 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2018 · 2018-04-20
- GM Gukesh D (2766) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Sinquefield Cup · 2024-08-20
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2718) – GM So, W. (2792) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-14
- GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2683) – GM So, W. (2765) 1/2-1/2 · AimChess Rapid Play-In · 2023-06-12
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2718) – GM Xiangzhi Bu (2712) 1/2-1/2 · 9th Hainan Danzhou GM · 2018-08-01
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Modern Sharp Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Profnick (2543) – dolynachess (2514) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- CATalan0P (2499) – FM ItRelates (2502) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Heiko_Briesen (2438) – KonigImPerson (2440) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Catalan Opening: Open Defense (4… dxc4 5. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 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 (5. Bg2 dxc4) 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
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.