A13

English Opening: Neo-Catalan

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Statistics from Lichess

817,831 games: White 51.1% / Draw 7.8% / Black 41.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	669,405669K
	53,64554K
	46,03346K
	43,07643K
	1,5651,565
	1,4961,496
	1,0601,060
	814814

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.17 The position is about equal

Best play: 4. d4 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 45% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	12K
1400–1799	79K
1800–2199	412K
2200 and up	347K
Masters, over the board	17K

Master games

Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M. 1–0, 2014
Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L. ½–½, 2013
Nepomniachtchi, I. – Carlsen, M. ½–½, 2020
Aronian, L. – Nakamura, H. ½–½, 2017
Carlsen, M. – So, W. 1–0, 2025

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

English Opening: Neo-Catalan (ECO A13, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Agincourt Defense, reached after 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 (3 moves).

In 817,831 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.1%, Black 41.1% and 7.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Bg2, in 82% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Neo-Catalan Declined and English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Bogoljubow Defense. In all, 9 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the English Opening: Neo-Catalan

The most played answer, 4. Bg2, also scores best for White: 55.4%, with White winning 51.5% and Black 40.7% of 669K games. Of the main answers, 4. cxd5 scores lowest: 50.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 4. d4.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The English Opening: Neo-Catalan peaked in 2018 at 0.042% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.034% in 2025.

0.029%0.034%0.042%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.029%	10,346
2017	0.032%	17,735
2018	0.042%	33,052
2019	0.038%	47,336
2020	0.034%	98,220
2021	0.027%	107,391
2022	0.028%	105,602
2023	0.029%	109,214
2024	0.032%	115,162
2025	0.034%	119,166
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.036%	39,772

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Variations (3)

All 9 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Neo-Catalan (A13)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-neo-catalan