Tree path 5 levels Catalan Opening › Catalan Opening › Closed › Catalan Opening: Open Defense › Catalan Opening: Open Defense
- Chess Codex
- Catalan Opening E00
- Catalan Opening E00
- Closed E01
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense E02
- Catalan Opening: Open Defense E04 you are here
Catalan Opening: Open Defense
Overview
Catalan Opening: Open Defense is a variation within the Indian Defenses family, indexed as ECO E04.
The Indian Defenses group covers Indian defences — hypermodern lines where Black challenges the centre with pieces rather than pawns.
It is reached after 9 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3.
It is a variation of Catalan Opening: Open Defense, which itself descends from the root opening Catalan Opening.
It branches into 2 notable variations — Classical Line, Modern Sharp Variation.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- E04
- Group
- Indian Defenses (E)
- Plies
- 9
- Direct variations
- 2
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
548,389 games · White 51.7% / Draw 7.1% / Black 41.3%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| c5 | 107,189 | |
| Nc6 | 89,185 | |
| Bb4+ | 80,663 | |
| c6 | 69,022 | |
| a6 | 62,479 | |
| Be7 | 54,052 | |
| Bd7 | 25,691 | |
| Nbd7 | 17,666 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:09:50
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