Open Catalan with 5...b5
There are 9 theoretical variations black could choose from in the Open Catalan. b5 is the least common and visually most logical. Simply defending his extra c4 pawn.
Whole Catalan Opening playlist: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0mAzxJRHpk&list=PLssNbVBYrGcBwWsSqwig0dAymsPQd0dzy
😎 Become a Patron (extra daily content): www.patreon.com/hangingpawns
👕 New chess merch!: hanging-pawns-chess-merch.myteespring.co/
More Merch on weird stuff like pillows: www.redbubble.com/people/hangingpawns/shop
♘ Follow me on lichess (write, ask, challenge): @hpy
💲 Support the channel: www.paypal.me/HangingPawns
The Catalan is a powerful weapon for white to add to his repertoire. It's versatile, and can lead to many different types of positions, and yet it's fairly simple to learn the plans and ideas in it since you always develop your pieces to the same squares and have similar plans against almost everything black does.
The Catalan can be divided into closed and open variations, Open Catalan being the ones in which black captures your c4 pawn which you've offered as a gambit. Once that capture is played, the open Catalan starts.
The main position of the open Catalan, where black gets to choose between 9 (!) different theoretical continuations occurs after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 (different move orders are possible, but the position is the same). Here black chooses between a6, Nc6, c5, c6, Nbd7, Be7, Bd7, Bb4+, and b5, which we are covering in this video.
b5 is the rarest of all 9 moves. It has only been played around 200 times in master games. And yet is makes perfect sense - black is simply defending his extra pawn, trying to consolidate, and later on convert his material advantage.
But... In exchange for black keeping his extra pawn, which is going to happen, white is going to be a pawn down, white gets a very strong initiative, great central control and a big lead in development. That means that playing 5...b5 is very risky, and that you either win an endgame a pawn up if white messes up, or you get destroyed in the middlegame.
We will be covering all 9 moves in the series!
#chess