Tree path 6 levels Catalan Opening › Catalan Opening › Closed › Catalan Opening: Open Defense › Catalan Opening: Open Defense › Classical Line
E05

Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line

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Overview

Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line is a variation within the Indian Defenses family, indexed as ECO E05.

The Indian Defenses group covers Indian defences — hypermodern lines where Black challenges the centre with pieces rather than pawns.

It begins with 10 plies and takes 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Be7 to reach the canonical position.

It is a variation of Catalan Opening: Open Defense, which itself descends from the root opening Catalan Opening.

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
E05
Group
Indian Defenses (E)
Plies
10
Parent
Catalan Opening: Open Defense

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

118,726 games · White 54.4% / Draw 6.2% / Black 39.3%

MovesGamesW / D / B
O-O79,385
Qa4+13,470
Ne511,862
Nc35,017
Qc24,747
Nbd21,841
a41,254
Na3453

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:22:01

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