Catalan Opening: Tarrasch Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6
The Catalan Opening: Tarrasch Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E01, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6. 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 24 times by this move order. White won 63%, -1% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 6. O-O (63% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 6. cxd5 exd5 7. O-O c4 8. b3 cxb3)
- ECO
- E01
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2n1pn2/2pp4/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 24 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. O-O | 15 (63%) | |
| 6. dxc5 | 3 (13%) | |
| 6. cxd5 | 3 (13%) | |
| 6. e3 | 3 (13%) |
Master games
24 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 8%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- IM Gergely Kantor (2514) – IM David Horvath (2377) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-HUN 2017-18 · 2018-02-18
- IM Ariel Erenberg (2479) – WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor (2274) 1-0 · Sunway Sitges Open 2019 · 2019-12-19
- FM Casper Liu (2325) – CM Oleksandr Yevchenko (2276) 0-1 · Titled Tue 20th May Early · 2025-05-20
- FM Djordje D Popovic (2208) – IM David Miedema (2362) 0-1 · Int ch-Central SRB Open A 2014 · 2014-07-08
- Ansh M Shah (2156) – FM Joaquin Fiorito (2409) 0-1 · Titled Tue 20th Jun Late · 2023-06-20
Search all games of the Catalan Opening: Tarrasch Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Unknown_9086 (2515) – Chotu2115 (2596) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Managing_Cat (2381) – A5Z (2475) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Heiko_Briesen (2426) – Schaak177 (2420) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Catalan Opening: Open Defense (3… d5 4. Bg2) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2
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 (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
- 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.