20 Ideas Every Catalan Player Must Know

20 Ideas Every Catalan Player Must Know | Opening Masterclass

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Күн бұрын

A comprehensive masterclass on one of the most powerful openings at just about every level - the Catalan.
For Coaching: forms.gle/TGPFdyV7XZSuhAfg9
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Intro: 0:00
Part I - Closed Catalan: 1:37
Part II - Open Catalan: 24:10
Part III - Move Order Tricks: 41:30

Пікірлер: 51

@benhavey4107 5 ай бұрын

I've played the Catalan for a decade and this is the best guide I've ever seen! This should be required watching before studying Catalan lines.

@SamAsakaChess 5 ай бұрын

Hey Ben, that's awesome to hear.

@kylemontaque7947 4 ай бұрын

10 years is impressive. Im glad your also still responding to comments @@SamAsakaChess

@gusleffers9265 11 ай бұрын

This is really well done. In general there is very little ‘idea’ instruction for most openings like this, so to have the pawn structures and typical ideas explained so well is an incredible resource.

@ZDTF 4 ай бұрын

Im trying to start playing Catalan This video cleared most of my doubts Thanks 🤯

@justinkeefe3456 6 ай бұрын

Fantastic video brother! Very well spoken, and with a pace that clicked with my brain. Thanks alot

@fazzolarijames 8 ай бұрын

I’m learning the closed Catalan for Black so this video was extremely insightful. Thank you 🙏

@SamAsakaChess 8 ай бұрын

Awesome to hear!

@jacklc5575 Жыл бұрын

This series is really excellent - thank you for putting this work in!

@SamAsakaChess Жыл бұрын

Thanks Jack, glad you like it.

@australopigreco4225 2 ай бұрын

Yesterday i lost a game where i played black in a catalan closed line. White played in the exact fashion you showed and i got wrecked. So today i saw your video, a great one! cheers Sam

@t-rex3372 Жыл бұрын

Please make a video how to gain initiative when black takes the pawn and plays well for not so good players

@Gavinisthebes 3 ай бұрын

Thank you so much man this is by far the best video I’ve seen on Catalan ideas I can finally play it and not be terrified💪

@SamAsakaChess 3 ай бұрын

Great to hear that. Best of luck with the Catalan!

@yesyoeable 11 ай бұрын

Just got myself into the Catalan and this is absolutely great to build upon. Thanks!

@SamAsakaChess 11 ай бұрын

Awesome. Glad to hear that!

@thegreatsuraj1622 11 ай бұрын

what a legendary video, please make a video on Sicilian Defence variations.

@SamAsakaChess 11 ай бұрын

Cheers, I have one on the Nadjorf - but more to come.

@christopherday6447 Жыл бұрын

This video is insanely good.

@SamAsakaChess Жыл бұрын

Thanks Christopher.

@f3dor0vsergey 6 ай бұрын

very nice video, thank you

@renobgm Жыл бұрын

Please never stop this series.

@SamAsakaChess Жыл бұрын

Plenty more to come!

@TemiBabalola 4 ай бұрын

Yoiu are brilliant!

@erikolsson5567 Жыл бұрын

Great video! What about the Slav setup? I find it challenging to meet. Maybe not play the Catalan when one gets c6 on the board?

@SamAsakaChess Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I only really would call it a Catalan when Black plays an early ...e6, not allowing them to get their LSB out. I personally play the Slow Slav with 3.Nf3 and 4.e3, and score very well with that. You could still play the Fianchetto variation against the Slav (and there are several strong players who do), but I've never been a huge fan.

@jasonbraun3149 8 ай бұрын

As someone who picked up the Catalan last year, this is really valuable information. Now I can see the differences between, for example, black playing Be7 or Bd6 in a Semi-Slav setup. The c5 idea also came in handy a few months ago. Otherwise, I'm thinking I can't create this nice outpost on d5 for black's knight! Question...In Part 4, how do you handle black taking on c4 after Bg2, Nbd7, O-O, dxc4? These lines look pretty messy in my database, which is why I always play Qc2 after black plays c6.

@SamAsakaChess 8 ай бұрын

Thanks Jason, glad to hear that! With regards to your quesion, if we say had the following moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 Nbd7 6. O-O, and now ...dxc4 I have to admit this specifically is not something I know super well off the top of my head, but looking at the DB quickly, a fairly logical continuation seems to be: 7. a4 a5 8. Qc2 b5 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nd5 11. axb5 cxb5 12. Nc3 Qb6 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. Bxd5 when White does well in practice, and to my eyes seems to have a slightly easier game. We could probably even extend the line a bit more, given they all go down a pretty similar path: 15.Qe4! Bc5 16.Bc6+ (one of the main ideas behind Qe4, I presume) ...Bd7 17.Bxd7+ Rxd7 and here White seems to have a pleasant choice between 18.Qa8+ and 18.Qg4 (to which Black's best defense seems to be the counter-intuitive ...Rf8!N, not directly defending g7 - even Erwin L'ami, a pretty strong theoretician lost his way here).

@jasonbraun3149 8 ай бұрын

@@SamAsakaChess Thanks for that reply. I’ll have to look at that in more detail. I’ve been playing over 50 years and now I’m trying to learn the Catalan!

@sayafkhan748 8 ай бұрын

Great video dude! Summed it up really precisely! 😊

@SamAsakaChess 8 ай бұрын

Cheers, appreciate it. Glad you found it useful!

@sameerkanth3804 9 ай бұрын

(16) Now it makes a lot of sense why Kramnik's old games follow the English setup line to enter the Catalan. This was an excellent video which builds upon further on the basics of the Catalan. (17) I follow this move order and also don't like playing against the Bf5 lines in Catalan. That Bishop can be very annoying if they can get an open C-file and if my rook is already developed to d1. I always wonder whether the Queen's Gambit is more venomous compared to the Catalan because when I follow this move order the engine keeps recommending me to go c4 ASAP. What is your opinion on QG vs Catalan ?

@SamAsakaChess 9 ай бұрын

Yeah, you usually want to challenge the center in some way, so delaying c4 doesn't really make much sense. If you're keen on continuing this approach, I recommend the repertoire book 'Keep It Simple 1.d4' (I reviewed it on this channel). As for the QG vs Catalan question - I consider the Catalan a subvariation of the QG, so I'm not too sure how to really answer that question. If you mean the 1.d4 2.Nf3 3.g3 move order - where you delay c4, then I would say I prefer the 1.d4 2.c4 move order.

@sameerkanth3804 9 ай бұрын

@@SamAsakaChess Thanks !! That makes sense. I will check out that book.

@Jack-qp9ky 4 ай бұрын

I played a side line (with the black pieces) to throw off my opponent yesterday with an early h6. D4 nf6, c4 e6, g3 d5, bg2 h6, nf3 bd6, 0-0 0-0.

@SamAsakaChess 4 ай бұрын

Yeah I've looked into that one before, actually quite interesting

@kaarlo4823 Жыл бұрын

I dont play the Catalan but nice video!

@rush0312 8 ай бұрын

Any good book reqs for the Catalan?

@SamAsakaChess 8 ай бұрын

Depends on your level. Many of the ones I read were when I was a bit younger, and kinda outdated from a theoretical POV. If you want a book that focuses on the strategic side of the opening, though (especially the closed catalan) - I would recommend taking a look at Wojo's Weapons (Vol 1 I think).