Beating the Colle with Reverse Catalan

@Art3mistic Even though I am an advocate of the London System I must admit there are some lines black can play that make me nervous. But the nice thing is is that is true for every single opening, so every opening has some merits including the Colle, London and Catalan.

im not sure this is gonna work...black really misses 2 tempi.and the e4 brreak activates c1 bishop,which is the main problem in the catalan

@RebeccaPawn I'm sure many d4 players have watched GJchess' video on returning the Englund pawn by now.

@asterakos So is the whole 4...Nbd7 setup a problem or is the improvement later on?

the idea of transposing into catalan is not that good,i believe

@FunnyAnimatorJimTV Thanks for the recommendation! I've never heard of GJchess, but it sounds like an instructional video. Definitely going to check it out. Sorry to take away from the discussion at hand. Really sorry. I'll stop.

@RebeccaPawn No worries! I'm sorry if my response comment came off as rude.

@asterakos What is your preferred recipe when facing the Colle?

In the game in question, after 8.Re1 I vote for 8....b6. Let white play 9.e4 and you swap off the pawns leaving him with a isolated Queen pawn. The Colle is ok to play if you have the patience. My feelings are that any opening or defense is ok to play as long as you know it better than your opponent. Chess is meant to be fun and some openings are just plain fun to play. For instance most people look down on the Albin Counter Gambit but I play it occasionally simply because it leads to active positions that are fun to play. Would I play it for money, absolutely not because basically it is unsound but so are so many other defenses.

@ViagraFalls Thank you- I agree; b6 does seem to be the main best option. Do you have any other suggestions for the previous moves for black? Do you think this 4...Nbd7 system is viable? Is the Zukertort 4.b3 a better or worse move for white in your opinion? Thanks and Happy Checkmating

To say that 8....b6 is the absolute BEST move might be overstating it. Its simply the movie I would make. Other moves 8...Qc7 8...Re8 could be more suited to some players. 8...b6 seems, to me at least, to be a move active move. Between the Colle and the Colle-Zukertort I give the edge to the latter as being more aggressive. It takes patience to play both sides of the Colle. Seems to me most black players lose by trying to seize the initiative without proper development. A well booked Colle player is tough to beat regardless of what system you use. I have seen your ideas of a reverse Catalan is some magazines. Often referred to as an accelerated Kings Indian.

Lots of patzers have posted here. If the collie is so good why is it not played at the level of the world championship
GJchess learn to play chess not learn tricks to beat unsuspecting lower rated opponents.