English Opening: Neo-Catalan
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6
The English Opening: Neo-Catalan is a chess opening classified as ECO A13, reached after 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 296 times by this move order. White won 44%, 8% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bg2 (98% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 c5)
- ECO
- A13
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/2P5/5NP1/PP1PPP1P/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 40 | |
| 2000+ | 254 | |
| All | 296 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bg2 | 289 (98%) | |
| 4. b3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. d4 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4. cxd5 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
892 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 25%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- AllieStein v0.5_timefix-n14.0 (3936) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-31
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – AllieStein v0.5_timefix-n14.0 (3936) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-27
- rofChade 2.303 (3661) – AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-06
- AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) – rofChade 2.303 (3661) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-03
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2733) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-07-25
Search all games of the English Opening: Neo-Catalan and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gelyaromanova (2754) – ScaryIndianJunior (2834) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- gelyaromanova (2725) – Mysterious_Spy (2785) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- DantheM4n (2768) – Juplt3rLlk3 (2704) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Agincourt Defense (2. Nf3 d5) 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5
Continuations
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Bogoljubow Defense A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Bd6
- English Opening: Neo-Catalan Declined A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7
- King's Indian Attack: Yugoslav Variation (4… b6 5. O-O) A07 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 b6 5. O-O
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Tarrasch Defense A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c5 5. b3 Nc6 6. O-O Be7
More English Opening lines (all)
- English Opening A10
- English Opening: Achilles-Omega Gambit A10
- English Opening: Adorjan Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense, Hickmann Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Chabanon Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Ferenc Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Lithuanian Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Löhn Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Malvinas Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Schulz Gambit A10
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.