Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Alekhine Variation
ECO E03 ยท Catalan Opening
The Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Alekhine Variation (E03) is a chess opening in the Catalan Opening family, played by Black. It arises after the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Qc2.
Moves: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Qc2
About this opening
The Alekhine Variation of the Open Catalan (5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Qc2) regains the c4 pawn at once with a queen check, the queen then returning to c2 behind harmonious development. White forgoes gambit play for a solid, positional approach, keeping the fianchetto pressure. Black aims for ...b5 and ...c5 to contest the queenside. A sound, strategic line.