Not every Catalan player wants a theoretical duel. Many sidestep the sharpest main lines at move six, hoping a quieter set-up will hand them a small, nagging edge without a lot of memorization. Fighting the Catalan: A Complete Repertoire for Black – Part 2, by GM Michael Roiz and GM Petar Arnaudov, answers that hope with a single recurring counterpunch: the timely ...c5, striking at White's centre while his development still lags.
Where Part 1 covered the main lines after 6.O-O dxc4, Part 2 takes on everything else — the queen sorties, the early bishop developments, and the knight tours White uses to avoid the main paths. The unifying message is that none of these deviations changes Black's plan. Whatever White tries at move six, the central break is waiting.
Sequence: Roiz versus the Catalan »
Labels:
42m PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests
Multilingual Database:
Ask a Catalan player where Black's difficulties really begin, and the answer is almost always the same: the light-squared bishop on c8. For decades it has been Black's problem, restricted behind its own pawns while White's fianchettoed counterpart controls the long diagonal unopposed. Fighting the Catalan: A Complete Repertoire for Black – Part 1, by GM Michael Roiz and GM Petar Arnaudov, is built around a single unifying idea — in every critical line, that bishop is given a purpose.
Sequence: Roiz versus the Catalan »
Labels:
1h 13m PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests
Multilingual Database:
The Neo-Catalan—a hybrid system where White delays d4 after fianchettoing the kingside bishop—has quietly evolved from a sideline into a weapon of choice for elite players seeking to sidestep theoretical Catalan debates while maintaining strategic pressure. Unlike the main-line Catalan where Black's d5-pawn becomes a focal point immediately, the Neo-Catalan allows White to choose when and how to engage the center, creating unique positional tensions. For Black players facing this subtle system, the challenge has been clear: how do you seize the initiative when White postpones the central confrontation?
Sequence: Roiz versus the Catalan »
Labels:
2h 4m PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests
Multilingual Database: